Your Council working in partnership to make our city safer

Plastic glasses not plastic surgery

Nicky Davey, licensee of Sharkeys, on George Street, which was one of the first pubs in the city to sell drinks in polycarbonate glasses

A night out in Hull is a lot safer now that 40,000 polycarbonate glasses have been given to pubs and bars

The scars left by a 'glassing' – that's the thrusting of a broken glass into a victim's face – can be horrific.
"Patients often cannot work for many weeks to months," says Craig Burnett, consultant ophthalmologist at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
"The facial and eye disfigurement has repercussions in all aspects of human contact.
"Where an eye is injured, the patient's other eye is at risk of a blinding immune attack for the rest of their life.
"There are often two to three operations per case and numerous ward and clinic attendances are needed."
Including the NHS bill, one single glassing incident can cost the state up to £1m.
There's the cost of a great many police and legal hours, which can include painstaking evidence gathering and barrister costs surrounding a crown court trial.
Once convicted, there's the cost of keeping the offender in prison for up to six years.

A strong case

But all this could be avoided with a simple solution: polycarbonate glasses.
Unlike real glasses, they are very difficult to shatter and therefore don't cause serious injury if used as a weapon.
More than 40,000 have recently been given out to local bars and pubs by Humberside Police in conjunction with the ONE HULL local strategic partnership.
And at a cost of £1 each, no-one could question that they represent good value for money.
Since the introduction of polycarbonate glasses, for example, Mr Burnett has not performed any operations as a result of glassings, whereas in 2007 he encountered one glassing injury case per week.
"There's really no argument against polycarb glasses," says Pc Gary Parker, licensing officer at Humberside Police, one of the officers who came up with the idea of introducing them.
"Most people think they're going to be the horrible flimsy things you get at outdoor events – but polycarbs are very similar to real glasses.
"In fact you might not even know you were drinking out of one."
Apart from safety, other advantages include:

• they are easier to recycle than glass
• they can save licensed premises money because they last longer than real glasses
• they keep your drink cool because, unlike glass, they don't transfer heat from your hand

A safer city

Hull is one of the first cities in the country to introduce polycarbonate glasses on such a large scale.
Of the city's 241 pubs, bars and nightclubs, around half now have a supply of them, including almost all licensed premises in the city centre.
"Hull is a lot safer now than it was five years ago," says Sgt Andy Parsons, who is in charge of policing the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights.
"It's too early to say what effect the glasses are having, but we'll be collating the figures soon.
"Recently we've had a couple of incidents in which people have been attacked with polycarbs and they only got reddening on the cheek.
"This is still an offence but it's not one that impacts so greatly on our resources.
"What's more, the consequences are far less serious for both the victim and the offender.
"Very often a glassing results from a moment of total mindless stupidity, and is greatly regretted by the offender afterwards.
"It can be committed by people from all walks of life – and I've seen businessmen and civil servants sent to prison, even though it's their first offence."

For more information about Citysafe visit www.hullcc.gov.uk or call 300300

My son's story "Sometimes he'll accept the scars and sometimes he thinks there's a monster looking back at him in the mirror," says Marjorie Golding, whose son Blake was glassed on Christmas Eve while working as a nightclub doorman in Milton Keynes. She has now started a national campaign calling for alcohol to be served in polycarbonate glasses or plastic bottles in late-night bars and nightclubs. Blake lost four pints of blood and needed a blood transfusion. He spent four hours in surgery having his face stitched inside and out. A wound to his neck narrowly missed his jugular vein. "This is our son, he is not a hooligan, nor was he drunk," adds Marjorie. "He was working at the time and tried to assist and protect a female colleague. "This issue affects everybody in this country. If you have a family you may have brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces and grandchildren. Don't let this happen to someone you love." For more details visit www.pop-campaign.co.uk

Above and below: Blake Golding from Milton Keynes