Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Trafford Council are urging anyone who is considering attending an illegal rave this weekend to stop and think, after similar events last weekend resulted in three stabbings, a sexual assault and a suspected fatal drug overdose.
Police are aware that there are possible further illegal raves being organised in the Greater Manchester area this weekend and will be steeping up patrols in a bid to prevent them happening.
GMP is also liaising with neighbouring forces across the North West and working alongside councils and other key partners to broaden the intelligence picture in order to identify and determine where events may take place.
Trafford Council and GMP are actively encouraging people and businesses to provide any information they may have of future events. The key to stopping this illegal activity is early intelligence and preventing such events may ultimately save lives.
Alongside industry experts, the campaign is also being supported by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, as well as the parents of a boy who was seriously stabbed at an unlicensed event last weekend, who are using their experience to warn young people of the significant risks posed by such events. Together, all parties are sending a clear message – do not go to illegal raves and risk your lives.
If people have any intelligence that they would like to pass on, please use the Livechat facility on the GMP website, or call the dedicated Operational Communications Branch on 101.
Cllr Andrew Western, Leader of Trafford Council saidl:
The scenes we saw in Carrington last weekend were shocking and risked the safety not only of everyone who attended, but also the police officers who had to deal with extreme violence and the wider community put at risk by the potential spread of coronavirus. We will be working closely with GMP to make every effort to ensure there is no recurrence of this illegal activity.
We urge all parents in Trafford to make yourselves aware of where your teenage children are this weekend and to speak to them about the very serious risks involved in attending this type of event. Last weekend we even saw parents dropping children off at the event in Carrington, which as the events of the night proved, was actively placing them in danger at what was essentially a free-for-all arranged by criminals.
The majority of people in Trafford have pulled together to follow the rules to fight the coronavirus, and we cannot now throw away the gains we have made with large gatherings that could spread the virus again. I would ask anyone with any information about raves planned for this weekend to do the right thing and contact the Council or GMP, for the sake of our young people and all our communities.”
Assistant Chief Constable Nick Bailey said:
A top priority for us will always be the safety of our communities and we will continue to strike the balance of proportionality and wider public safety with our overall response to incidents such as these ones. We are sending a strong warning to those thinking about attending such events - you could face enforcement action and receive a criminal record.
I would also like to send a really clear message to organisers of illegal raves and events. I would implore you to seriously consider the risks and understand that as organisers, it is your responsibility to keep people safe. There are often young teenagers in attendance, who are putting their lives in your hands. We also have to stress that we will do our very utmost to work with licensing authorities to ensure that anyone who is found organising these kind of events, or supplying equipment such as generators, is dealt with robustly and faces the fullest consequences. You too could also face prosecution. So please, I would ask people to think beforehand and ask yourself if it’s worth it.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said:
We can't say for certain that we can prevent all such events from taking place again. But we can say to Greater Manchester residents that there is no question of us turning a blind eye or adopting a permissive approach. These events are illegal at any time, but particularly during a pandemic, and we will redouble our efforts to close them down and protect lives in Greater Manchester.”
Posted on Friday 19th June 2020