Sex in the underpass
The debate builds again for the City centre underground canal to be gated off to stop sex in public
Part of Manchester city centre’s canal could be gated off in a bid to crack down on people having sex in public.
The Undercroft - the part of Rochdale Canal which runs underground from Dale Street to Minshull Street - has long been a venue for men seeking sex with other men.
But there are now concerns they are being targeted by other men pretending to be gay who lure them there before robbing them.
GMP believe many crimes happening in the Undercroft go unreported because men who use the area may be hiding their activities from families, wives or girlfriends.
There are also concerns that underage teenagers are using the area to work as rent boys, while holiday-makers on canal boats have complained of seeing people engaged in sex acts as they sail past.
All this comes a few days after a man was left in a critical condition after being rescued from the canal by Dale Street in Piccadilly Basin on Sunday night.
A 17-year-old boy today appeared in court charged with robbery in relation to the incident.
Inspector Phil Spurgeon, from the Gay Village neighbourhood policing team said: “We recognise the Undercroft is a well-established public sex environment and are working hard to tackle the anti-social behaviour and crime associated with this.
“We deliver a number of policing interventions in the area, under operation Limehouse, which includes high-visibility and plain clothes work.
“We are also looking at longer-term problem-solving opportunities, for example, working closely with partners to look at whether further environmental improvements will help.“As well as enforcement and partnership work, we are sensitive to the needs of any vulnerable people involved.“We work closely with outreach projects in the area, and wider GMP operations such as Operation Protect, which looks at sexual exploitation.”
Published: 11-Feb-2014: (2247)
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