Hope not lost for HMV and Jessops gift card holders

England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam has urged youngsters to not believe everything they read on social media, instead asking to trust medical professionals and get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Boston’s Van-Tam has said that we should trust people who have spent “years and years training for the role” of medical professionals, as vaccine hesitancy in younger age demographics is being linked with social media misinformation.

The government has announced it will be opening national vaccine hubs to 12-15 year-olds this half-term break, in an attempt to “ramp up” jabs amongst younger people.

Last week, The Lincolnite reported that less than a quarter of Lincolnshire children aged 12-15 have been vaccinated for COVID, according to government figures released on Thursday, October 14.

Professor Van-Tam also spoke about the vaccine rollout at Boston United, the football club he supports, and said the Pilgrims were in a “very strong position” as 90% of the players and staff were double jabbed.

He stated the importance of footballers receiving the jab due to their position as idols to young people in society.

“They are role models whether they like it or not,” JVT told the BBC on Wednesday, October 20, and he himself has given a number of the Boston players their vaccines.

Women in Lincoln are planning to boycott all bars and nightclubs in the city next Wednesday in response to the recent spate of alleged drink spiking and drug injecting at UK venues.

An Instagram account called Girls Night In Lincoln has been formed in response to a range of national events calling for a nightlife boycott on Wednesday, October 27.

It comes as Lincolnshire Police is investigating several reports of drinks being spiked in Lincoln city centre in recent weeks, after three women were reported to have been unwell and disoriented in a bar on Friday, October 8.

Detective Sergeant George Wynn, Lincoln CID, said: “Drink spiking is a serious crime and one that we won’t tolerate here in Lincolnshire.

“We want people to have fun and enjoy themselves during a night out and whilst we will do all that we can to tackle this, we recommend taking preventative measures too, such as never leaving your drink unattended and never accepting a drink when you haven’t seen it being prepared in front of you.”

It is hoped that the boycotts will raise awareness of the issue of drink spiking across the country, which has been called an ‘epidemic’ and prompted some women to feel unsafe at night.

Protests on Hungate, outside Home nightclub, following the murder of Sarah Everard earlier this year. | Photo: The Lincolnite

The account has amassed over 750 followers in 24 hours and is posting guidance and support for people who may have experienced spiking or sexual assault, as well as sharing anonymous alleged first-hand accounts.

Boycotts have been planned in big cities such as Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh and Nottingham, as well as Lincoln, as calls get louder for more action to be taken against these incidents.

There are calls for greater repercussions for abusers, training for nightclub staff to prevent the incidents at source, CCTV inside bars, better support for victims and a response from government.

A petition demanding that thorough searches are conducted for everyone attending nightclubs recently hit 100,000 signatures, meaning the issue will be discussed in the Houses of Commons.

A spokesperson for the Girls Night In Lincoln Instagram account told The Lincolnite: “The boycott in Lincoln has been encouraged by nationwide events, however this platform is aware that Lincoln has been subjected to many cases of spiking throughout the city.

“We hope to achieve some form of change, such as nightclubs and bars tackling this issue more seriously, as well as creating better safeguards.

“After a year of significant attention in the media about the violence subjected to women this is another movement that highlights the severity of this issue. Although spiking impacts more women than men it is still a universal issue regardless of gender.”

The women behind the account, who choose to remain anonymous, have been sharing various stories from people who claim to have experienced spiking, injection or sexual assault on nights out in Lincoln.

What nightclubs are doing

Home nightclub in Lincoln. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Home Lincoln has issued a statement in response to the recent reports of drink spiking, calling it “absolutely unacceptable for anybody to have to live in fear of being spiked on nights out.”

The venue, and its sister businesses Moka, Bierkeller and Void have introduced testing kits to see if your drink has been spiked, as well as spikeys and toppers to put on the top of drinks, which will block any potential spiking of drinks.

A spokesperson for the nightclub said: “As a venue, customer safety is our top priority and we are committed to ensuring that it’s a safe environment for everyone.

“If you are at one of our events and experience or witness anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, please speak to a member of staff or security immediately so we can investigate.

“Anyone caught spiking a drink in our venue will be banned and reported to the police.”

The Strait and Narrow also posted this week to address the national conversation around drink spiking and women’s’ safety.

The bar said: “You go out to have fun right? It’s our job to make sure you do. A massive part of that is to make sure you’re safe. It’s something we take very seriously.

“We were the first bar in the World to run Hayley Crawford’s #AskForAngela scheme. It launched here, we’re proud of that but it’s sad that we have to be. It’s sad we have to do it.

“We’ve had Drink Aware testing kits behind the bar for the last 3+ years to test anyone’s drink if they’ve any doubts about there being something in there that shouldn’t be.

“We’ve been open nearly 9 years and in that time we’ve stood up against A LOT of behaviour that we’ve seen in the city – from customers, our peers in the industry and in general.

“We don’t want recognition for this… we just want the behaviour to stop so if you’re doing it – don’t. If you see it, call it out. Now.”

A village store owner admitted breaching his alcohol licensing conditions while his licence was being revoked by South Holland District Council on Wednesday.

Arumugam Sarankan, admitted that while he was in the council chamber answering a review called by Lincolnshire Police, his shop City Stores, on Bridge Road in Sutton Bridge, was open and manned by an employee without a personal licence to sell alcohol.

The committee was carrying out a licence review after a man at the store served two underage children and was later found to be an illegal worker during a Lincolnshire Police spot check on August 24, 2021.

Lincolnshire Police’s Alcohol Licensing Manager Sergeant Kim Enderby said 14 stores had been tested and Mr Sarankan’s shop was the only premises where two 15-year-old volunteers were able to buy a bottle of pink Hooch despite being asked for ID and saying they had left it at home.

Investigations found the Sri Lankan worker’s visa had expired in 2014, and he was in the country illegally. He was arrested and transported to custody for immigration checks.

The worker, who claimed he was a relation of Mr Sarankan, said had been working at the shop since November 2020 and lived in the premises. Mr Sarankan denied he was a relation.

“We have serious concerns in relation to what we found, we have got a wholesale breach of license conditions, an illegal worker with no reasonable explanation and then we have sales of alcohol to two children,” said Sergeant Kim Enderby, told the committee meeting.

Police found no written authorisation to the shop’s workers for alcohol sales, no incident and refusals log, no age verification policy, no staff training and the store was not operating challenge 25. CCTV did not conform to the force’s specification and Mr Sarankan was said to spend a lot of time away from the store.

Despite reassurances in the meantime the situation had improved, a further police visit on October 12 again found a worker on their own and issues with access to incident and training records. Police also failed to line up some of the records with CCTV – despite accounting for an incorrect time record – with Sgt Enderby suggesting that some recorded incidents were not “genuine”.

South Holland District Council’s licensing committee on October 20. | Photo: Daniel Jaines

Mr Sarankan and his representative, Suresh Kanapathi, from Arka Licensing consultants, did not dispute criminal activity had taken place at the store, nor that his employees did not hold personal licences. However, they did not think they were breaching conditions concerning CCTV, incident refusals logs, training and age verification policy.

Mr Sarankan took over the shop in December 2020 but the premises licence was previously reviewed in similar circumstances in 2011.

Mr Kanapathi told members it was a small family business and that Mr Sarankan handled most matters including going to the cash and carry, which was why he was away from the store.

They told councillors there had been a “comprehensive” package of training and organising going on and that they were now up to scratch.

Members were also told a trained person was due to start but had not begun at the time.

However, Mr Sarankan then confirmed that while he was at the meeting a worker was still at the shop without a premises licence.

The committee concluded there had been breach and the evidence provided did not prove staff had been adequately trained or that underage individuals would be challenged.

“The panel have no confidence in the management of the premises and that the conditions of the premises licence will be adhered to in the future,” said chairman Councillor Henry Bingham.

Speaking following the meeting, Sgt Enderby said: “It’s a really strong decision by the council, and sends a really strong deterrent message, both to the business that we were here with today and to any other businesses that considering employing illegal workers because it has serious consequences both for the person who’s employed and for legitimate businesses who were there competing against.”