Code incident: Owners of Sheffield nightclub to take no disciplinary action against bouncer who argued with young women

In a Twitter thread - which was shared thousands of times - a woman said her friend was sexually assaulted by another clubber in Code, on Eyre Street, then grabbed and “kicked out” after raising the issue with a security guard who works for IPM, a major security supplier in the region and across the country.

She said she was intimidated by him and he “acted as though [her] sober friend was drunk and out of order”.

In a video shared in the thread the guard can be heard telling the woman to delete recordings and her refusing to do so.

She said: “I know in those videos I seem to be confidently standing my ground but I was honestly so scared.”

Hundreds of people commented on the tweets in outrage at what was described and the woman encouraged others to use hashtags calling for the bouncer to be fired and for people to boycott Code.

But the guard’s employer IPM said the posts included “inaccuracies” and following investigation, including speaking to witnesses and inspecting CCTV footage, they said the bouncer “acted in an appropriate manner under very difficult and stressful circumstances” and no disciplinary action will be taken.

The company said the woman’s friend was asked to leave the club because security staff witnessed them “physically and verbally attack” a male clubber and this was then directed at staff when they intervened.

IPM said “no coherent allegations of sexual assault” were made prior to them being asked to leave.

The following afternoon, IPM said it received a complaint alleging the sexual assault in the club which it responded to a shortly after, requesting further information to conduct a full inquiry and suggesting it be reported to police. But it said it had not received a reply to date.

Following their investigations, a spokesperson for the company said: “Security staff perform a very difficult role, attempting to work under sometimes very stressful conditions. On this occasion cameras and lights were thrust into their faces, they were antagonised and hindered from performing their duties. The security staff worked under conditions that many people would consider intolerable in other professions. This type of unjust pressure can make the role even more stressful. The use of social media often shows only a small segment of an incident and distorts the truth surrounding an event.”

They added: “The safety of all customers is the paramount concern of both IPM Group and the management of Code nightclub, both organisations work tirelessly in partnership to this end. Code nightclub is undoubtedly one of the safest leisure venues in the region and invests considerable time and resources to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment.”

Councillor Martin Phipps, City ward representative, said he reported the incident to the local authority.

He said: “This is the exact opposite of what should be happening. Reports of sexual assault need to be taken incredibly seriously, and I believe that there should have been training around exactly this.”

A council spokesperson said it was working with partner agencies including South Yorkshire Police and the Security Industry Authority to investigate the incident, adding: “Appropriate action will be taken where necessary.”

In a statement on Twitter, the Security Industry Authority said: “We are aware of this incident and our team is working on it. We want to know when people feel that the conduct of security operatives or businesses might bring the industry into disrepute.”

Code nightclub and South Yorkshire Police were contacted for comment.