Is Manchester city centre a safe place to be?
People in our region are more likely to be the victim of a crime than anywhere else in England and Wales, figures published last year showed.
In part, that is being driven by an alarming rise in violent crime, sex attacks and robberies.
And nowhere is that reality played out more starkly than in the city centre.
With millions of people visiting for work or pleasure every year, and a rapidly increasingly residential population, it is inevitably a magnet for criminal activity.
But now the Manchester Evening News has obtained figures that, for the first time, show the true scale of the task facing our struggling police force.
The numbers from April 2018-2019 show that on an average day in the city centre police receive; one report of a sex attack, ten violent assaults, three burglaries, 42 thefts, four robberies and three public order offences.
Our data reveals which geographical 'beats' are hotspots for different types of crime.
For example, violent attacks averaged more than one a day in the Gay Village alone, with complaints of sex attacks averaging around one every three days.
Just last weekend, 18-year-old Gabrielle Walsh was punched unconscious in the Gay Village after she told a man who followed her from a nightclub 'I'm not interested'.
That incident is not included in the period covered by the data, but the teenager's ordeal is part of a worrying trend.
Of course, statistics can only ever tell part of the story, and city centre beats vary in size and character, with different numbers of homes, shops, pubs and bars in each.
In response to the figures, Greater Manchester Police and Manchester Council have insisted the city centre IS a safe place to be, with work ongoing to tackle problems with crime and anti-social behaviour.
Here, we examine what has been happening in different areas of the city centre:
Gay Village
There were 167 rapes and 230 sexual assaults reported across the city centre - averaging more than one a day.
Police forces say that, in general, the number of sex offences being reported is going up because more people are being encouraged to come forward.
The Greater Manchester Police force area is no exception, experiencing a 44pc increase in sex offences in recent years.
The data we've obtained shows a large proportion of all sex crimes reported in the city centre were in the Gay Village, including 45 rapes and 69 sexual assaults.
This is despite the fact a serial sex attacker was jailed last year.
Ashfaq Khan was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of raping 'lone, vulnerable' women in the Village in attacks in summer 2017.
The 60-year-old pretended to be a taxi driver, or allowed women to think he was one, offering them a lift before attacking them, a court heard.
The Village was also plagued by violence in the 12 month period covered by the most recent data.
There were 481 reports of violent crimes, stretching from common assault up to the most serious offences of wounding and affray.
In one case a murderer met his victim in the Gay Village.
Much-loved Collyhurst man Frank Lennon , 53, was strangled to death in his home by a man he met outside The Eagle bar on Bloom Street.
Killer Daniel Kurmelovs, 18, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years in January.
Piccadilly Gardens
Earlier this year, we branded Piccadilly Gardens 'the square that shames our city' due to its reputation for crime and scruffy appearance.
Now we have the numbers to back it up.
For example, there were 90 incidents of affray between 2018-29 - the criminal offence usually charged for people fighting in the street - more than anywhere else in the city centre.
In January, twelve teenagers were arrested after a mass brawl in the Gardens involving knives, bats and bars.
Police said they were treating the incident as a fight between 'rival criminal gangs'.
In another typical incident, a man suffered serious injuries after being attacked with a broken bottle outside Morrisons in Piccadilly Gardens.
Just hours earlier, a man had been stabbed and robbed of his phone following an 'altercation' outside the Co-Op on nearby High Street.
Overall, there have been 484 violent incidents in Piccadilly Gardens in the twelve month period covered by the data.
There were also a high number of Section 5 public order offences compared to other areas, a total of 147.
This can cover a wide range of incidents under the banner of threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour.
For example, the GMP City Centre team tweeted in March about having arrested a man who was 'shouting and swearing at members of the public' in the Gardens.
The offence can also relate to political protests that go too far.
In February this year, 'Yellow Vest' protester James Goddard was convicted of assault and a section 5 public order offence after threatening a photographer as he covered the demo for the M.E.N.
Other crimes reported in Piccadilly Gardens include; 17 of rape, 24 of sexual assault, 347 common assaults, 59 burglaries, 1360 thefts, 261 robberies, one attempted murder, three arson, six outraging public decency and one kidnapping.
Northern Quarter
The Northern Quarter had the highest number of burglaries reported in the city centre in the past twelve months.
There were 135, averaging around one every three days.
The area also had a high number of offences reported across the board.
That might reflect concerns that drug-dealing activity has moved towards the Northern Quarter after efforts to clamp down in other areas such as Chinatown.
There were 254 reports of violence, 885 thefts, 71 robberies, 82 public order offences, two of dangerous driving, three of arson, two of outraging public decency and one kidnapping. There were 35 sex complaints of sex offences - including 14 rapes.
Castlefield
Residents in Castlefield, one of the most established communities in the city centre, have complained increasingly of crime issues in recent years.
In particular, there was a spate of muggings that led to people setting up a 'buddy' WhatsApp group so they didn't have to walk in the area alone.
There have also been frequent complaints of vandalism to cars in the area.
Our data revealed there were 40 reports of burglary, 318 of theft and 38 of robbery in the area in the past year.
There were also five reports of rape and four of sexual assault.
In January, a woman was raped under a bridge in Castlefield as she walked from Liverpool Road towards Water Street.
A man was later arrested and charged over the attack.
There have also been 101 violent incidents reported, 14 public order offences, one of outraging public decency and one of kidnapping.
Those figures are among the lowest in the city centre, although Castlefield is one of the few 'beats' that is almost entirely residential.
Chinatown
Such have been the concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour in Chinatown, Manchester city council hired private security to carry out extra patrols.
Councillors said the aim was to 'complement' existing police tactics in response to specific concerns raised by residents.
Staff from ShowSec, who were contracted by the council, do not have powers of arrest and are under instruction to call GMP if they witness any criminality.
The move was criticised by the opposition Lib Dems who described it as a 'waste of time'.
In March, a woman was robbed while having an epileptic fit outside her office in Chinatown.
Leonora Royce had a phone and purse stolen as she lay stricken and in need of urgent medical attention on the floor.
After an appeal in the M.E.N, homeless drug addict Noel Steadman was arrested and jailed for 22 months this week.
Overall, the data we obtained shows there were 132 violent incidents reported last year in Chinatown, 40 burglaries, 394 thefts, 63 robberies and 56 public order offences.
Also reported were two arsons, an attempted murder, two rapes and 14 sexual assaults.
Business owners told the M.E.N last summer they are under siege from rough sleepers and associated drug-dealing issues.
Jimmy Low who runs Wing Fat Supermarket said the problems have led to a decline in footfall and that he fears for the future of Chinatown.
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In response, police said they are 'working hard' to tackle crime issues in the area and have a number of operations including high-visibility patrols and undercover investigations ongoing.
Commercial District
GMP split their data for crime figures into both police beats and communities.
The biggest community is the commercial district that covers the Arndale Centre, King Street and Deansgate areas.
Earlier this month, an armed gang raided the Louis Vitton store in Selfridges at around 11.30pm at night wearing balaclavas.
Shoppers arriving first thing in the morning found the area cordoned off with boxes and a sledgehammer left strewn across the pavement - this incident did not occur in the time period covered by the data.
Unsurprisingly, the Commercial District is the area that has returned the highest number of crime reports in Manchester city centre in 2018-19.
There were 805 violent incidents, 108 sex attacks (including 42 rapes) 258 burglaries, 4,469 thefts, 319 robberies and 228 public order offences.
There were also 21 reports of attempted murder related to the St Ann's Square area.
GMP currently have a number of operations to tackle specific issues ongoing in the city centre, including Operation Gigg to tackle Spice dealing and Servator that seeks to disrupt all criminality with high-visibility patrols.
Another is Operation Valiant which targets personal robberies, an increasing problem.
Earlier this year, we reported on a group of 'Lost Boys' in Manchester who formed a terrifying robbery gang after meeting through the city's Pupil Referral Unit system for children excluded from school.
Aged mainly 13 and 14-years-old, the boys effectively took over the area around Victoria station and the Urbis building in Manchester city centre and made it their patch.
One boy took to carrying round a 10-inch 'zombie' knife and committed seventeen offences in just five months.
The gang has been dismantled after a lengthy investigation by detectives with Operation Valiant and hit with more than 100 charges.
'Policing must be targeted where it is needed'
Reacting to the figures obtained by the M.E.N, councillors for the Piccadilly ward were particularly horrified by the scale of sex crimes in the Gay Village.
Councillors Sam Wheeler, Jon-Connor Lyons and Adele Douglas, said in a joint statement: "These figures show the impact of savage government cuts to police and wider services that keep Mancunians safe.
"The very high number of reported rapes and sexual assaults is especially distressing.
"The crime statistics for the Gay Village are particularly appalling given that so many LGBT+ people look to it as a sanctuary.
"We will be meeting with GMP and the Mayor's Office to ensure that resources from the increase in the Mayoral precept for policing are appropriately targeted where there is greatest need."
What the Police and Council said:
Superintendent Chris Hill said: "GMP and Manchester City Council are continuing to work in partnership to ensure Manchester City Centre remains a safe place for people to visit.
"There are a number of initiatives that we work on together including aspects such as the night time economy."
Councillor Nigel Murphy, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “For the vast majority of people who live and work in Manchester, they can go about their lives peacefully and safely.
"We will continue to work with our partners in GMP to keep our residents safe and tackle problems where they emerge.”
