Eight people linked to Sheffield gangs arrested following rise in 'serious violent crime' in city neighbourhood

The rise in ‘serious’ violent offences has been seen in the Sharrow area of the city, a report prepared by Sheffield District Commander, Shelley Hemsley, states. Among the violent incidents reported in the Sharrow area in recent months is an attack on Priory Road in October 2022, in which a man was ‘seriously wounded’ after being stabbed multiple times.

Temporary Chief Superintendent Hemsley said South Yorkshire Police has responded to the rise in ‘serious violent crime’ with an ‘increased district focus’ in Sharrow, which has resulted in ‘a reduction in the number of offences of serious violence, most notably firearms offences’.

The force has also executed 15 warrants in the area, resulting in eight nominals mapped into OCGs (organised crime groups or ‘gangs’), six of whom have been remanded into custody, according to the report.

“This represents a significant result in terms of pursuing those offenders who deal drugs in our city; often using exploited children to facilitate this,” T/Chief Sup Hemsley said in the report which went before the Public Accountability Board, hosted by South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings on January 9, 2023.

It states that ‘further disruption activity’ continues in the north east of Sheffield where ‘the OCG running the main drug dealing line has been completely dismantled; resulting in the arrest and remand of the principal supplier of drugs in this area’.

“A further four warrants have been executed in the North East area to disrupt a further OCG linked to county lines drug supply and exploitation. Four members of this group have been arrested and one nominal has been remanded to custody,” T/Chief Sup Hemsley’s report states.

It adds that the number of ‘mapped’ OCGs in Sheffield has increased due to ‘improved intelligence reporting,’ including two OCGs that are directly involved in County Lines drug supply.

“The ownership of management of the OCGs is distributed between the Sheffield Fortify Teams and the Sheffield Intelligence Department.”

“This forms part of a new pilot scheme in Sheffield where those OCGs that require specific intelligence development to better understand the threat and risk they pose are allocated to the intelligence department to direct intelligence collection and development,” the report states.

Anyone wishing to report a crime should call South Yorkshire Police on 101.