Police claim knife attack on five men may have been inside club

The owner of Niche nightclub, Steve Baxendale, had always insisted that the incident in the early hours of Sunday, July 18 – which led to the club being closed down – had taken place on wasteland outside.

But at a licensing board meeting held yesterday to determine whether or not Niche can regain its licence and reopen, Chief Superintendent Andy Barrs said that police dogs had sniffed out blood inside the premises.

South Yorkshire Police had applied for a licence review after the multiple stabbing last month, which was the latest in a long list of violent incidents at the club in Charter Row.

According to police records, over the past year there have been six stabbings, 37 assaults, 11 public order offences and six incidents of clubbers being bottled, as well as thefts and allegations of door staff assaulting members of the public.

Mr Barrs said that Niche is "not a well-managed club", and added: "There is significant evidence to suggest that the Niche branding attracts criminal gangs from other parts of the country, including Manchester, Bradford and Birmingham, frequently leading to crime and conflict either inside or outside the premises."

He added that South Yorkshire Police operates a "traffic light" system whereby licensed premises are graded either green, amber or red depending on the number of crimes occurring there, and Niche "features red pretty much most of the time".

Julie Hague, from Sheffield Council's safeguarding children unit, also said children as young as 13 were being granted entry to the club and more proof of age checks needed to be made.

However, Mr Baxendale denied knowledge of many of the items on the police record and disputed whether they had in fact taken place at the club.

He also pointed out that, while the security was already tight and the CCTV system among the best in the city, if Niche were permitted to reopen he would be fitting an airport-style knife arch to prevent people bringing weapons inside.

He is also planning to introduce a membership scheme to ensure members of criminal gangs were kept out.

Mr Baxendale, who has been working in nightclubs in Sheffield for about 41 years, said: "The police are under the impression that we attract outside gangs, so if we cut the club off the outside gangs will go away.

"But we find that almost all the problems we have are from within the city. The gangs who create the trouble already live here.

"We get busy at around 2am, after people who have been drinking on West Street go to another club and stay there until it closes. They leave there at 2am and wander over to us to continue their night.

"We feel victimised as the police don't target the other clubs where they go as being associated with criminal gangs and organised crime gangs.

"I enjoy this club, I can't keep away. It's my life."

Niche, which is known as the birthplace of bassline music, previously had a club in Sidney Street which was closed down by police some years ago.

The club then reopened in Charter Row under the new name Vibe, before changing its name back to Niche in November last year.

As well as operating as a nightclub, Niche also runs various community events, such as DJing sessions in conjunction with Sheffield Council's youth offending team.

A decision on the future of the club's licence is set to be made by members of Sheffield Council's licensing committee in the near future.