Anyone know who "owns" afterdark? Serious safety complaint

[robdawn12 10]

So it sounds like lots of people paid to put themselves in a dangerous situation where fireworks were thrown

I wouldn't pay £30.00 to take my family there and have to pay for parking rides and food at extra cost.

I saw the display from a distance and the fireworks display last roughly 18 minutes

I did my own display it too me over an hour to set all the fireworks off, no one was hurt and it cost me a lot less than a trip to don valley bowl.

My advice stay away from overpriced event and manage your own safety, you don't place the welfare of your loved ones in the hands of people who are not bothered or don't have the capacity to keep you safe.

[SportsTrophy 10]

Looks like Andrew Simpson, the operations manager at Global Security Stewarding has some questions to answer regarding their contract obligations.

 

People have to able to be responsible at events like this and if for any reason people think that others are not going to tow the line then they should be challenged.

 

The outcome could have been terrible and I am so glad that everyone is fine. SYP said they attended about 60 bonfire related incidents and no casualties, phew.

[jaycee331 10]

If the organisers stated "No alcohol or firework devices including sparklers will be allowed into the event. Such items will be confiscated prior to entry and not returned on exit.", but had no realistic or comprehensive means to do so, I do think it would be worth raising this with the licensing authority. That's not weasel wording, it's a very absolute statement that has allegedly proved to be untrue.

 

They probably HAVE to make assurances like that to get their license. But if they are making promises they cannot keep, that can't go down well for them surely. Failing to do so is a health & safety breach too. I think I'd definitely be knocking on the council's door about this one. I'd also consider making a Freedom of Information request against the council to discover if they had any other complaints or concerns raised. On the off chance they did, AND they let it go ahead next year that would put the council in a pretty damning position. Could also use an FOI to ask how the council vet the organisers and the promises made when granting a license.

 

Police = yes but no real chance of them ID'ing the culprits so no, waste of time

The security company = they're just middle man, and as a sub-contracted resource they answer to the organisers not me and you. Ultimate responsibility stops with the organisers.

The organisers = yes, but expect to get ignored, fobbed off or given a load of flowery assurances about how concerned they are, won't happen again, blah blah. So no.

 

Go over their heads to the people who grant their licenses, make it a public safety issue and potentially failure to comply with the terms of the license.

 

What more could be done? They could pay for a police presence, they could setup some temporary CCTV towers to cover the crowd. But then prices will double? Tough. Safety costs money. Can't have it both ways.

[ytee 10]

Like the user mentioned, yellowbus are the organisers as far as I know

[dosxuk 10]

What more could be done? They could pay for a police presence, they could setup some temporary CCTV towers to cover the crowd.

 

None of this will stop idiots from smuggling in fireworks / flares / alcohol.

[chloe-choco 10]

I took my Niece and almost turned around the moment we entered, too few people ruin it for the majority which was a real shame. I normally opt just for Fright Night but as it was canned this year I opted for afterdark, big mistake!

[little tank 10]

Have you reported this to the police ?

[darylslinn 10]

If Wembley can check the bags and pat down 90,000 people before an event then i'm sure that a few thousand going into the Don Valley Bowl can be checked.

[Blackbeard 10]

If Wembley can check the bags and pat down 90,000 people before an event then i'm sure that a few thousand going into the Don Valley Bowl can be checked.

 

Are you sure?

"Police arrest 35 Poland fans at Wembley including 16 for using flares"

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/16/police-arrest-35-poland-fans-flares

[Litotes 63]

And...

 

So you have complained - and been given the relevant contact details - have you followed it up?

 

What happened?

 

What are you going to do about it? - Just complain or actually do something?

[zippy 10]

And how will another organiser stop teenages scroates from hiding fireworks down their pants and then throwing them into the crowd?

 

I'm not being flippant here, I am genuinely asking the question, because as already said the security staff cant search down people's trousers.

 

private security or an Organisation's Managers cannot do any form of intimate searching , only the Police can do that and then only if there is a reasonable suspicion - 'pat downs' can be done in a public place but anything more intrusive than a pat down or asking you to remove your jacket has to be done in private and ideally in a CCTV monitored area .

 

the most SIA badged can do is ask you things, ask to look in your bag and ask you to go through a metal detector / 'wand' you ...

[Danny_Boy 10]

I was at after dark and it was a great night as it always is but I did notice there was an element of the sub human brigade there. Throwing fireworks, swearing & smoking drugs quite blatantly in front of families and children. It's a shame but think I'll give it a miss next year. Another case of a minority spoiling it for the majority.