Ozmen International could lose licence after undercover police sting

Dear readers – the moment happened on Saturday morning, at 09.57am. The name of Neil Woodall, the 1,000th Tribune member in our massive campaign push to bring The Tribune to a significantly larger audience, appeared on our screens. A warm welcome to Neil and every other new member who has joined us. It would normally take us about a year to add that many paying subscribers, and when we set the target it seemed a bit far-fetched. But so many people rallied behind us and in the end, we soared past our target, hitting over 1,100 members. 

Now, we’re going to get to work on making good on fulfilling our five pledges — read on for more details.

Before we start: We’re hiring! Mill Media is looking for a senior editor and a staff writer for The Post, our sister newspaper in Merseyside. You can find details about both jobs here – please do share with anyone who might be interested.

In case you missed it

For our weekend read, Mollie wrote about the lost local newspaper, the Burngreave Messenger, which published once a month from 1993 to 2023. In the words of local councillor Douglas Johnson, it was intended as “an antidote to the real negative stories coming out in the Star and Telegraph about Burngreave,” although it didn’t shy away from more critical reporting. Tribune member John Mounsey wrote that articles like this are why he’s “delighted to be back on board once again as a paying subscriber.” 

Earlier in the week, Dan went to the dogs — specifically the greyhound racing at Owlerton Stadium — to discuss the debate over whether to ban the pastime as the stadium nears its 100th birthday. Later in the week, Mollie attended the sentencing of Elijah Palmer, a teenager who coerced a vulnerable young woman into self-harming over the internet, after joining the disturbing “764” network. 

The big picture: Bold as brass 🏳️‍🌈

15,000 people descended on Kelham Island on Saturday for the third annual Kelham Pride. On the day, visitors were treated to music, entertainment and food at Peddler Warehouse and venues across the area. Pictured are members of the Frumptarn Guggenband who led the big parade from Kelham Island Museum to the main stage at Burton Road.

The big story: Ozmen International risks losing licence after undercover police sting

Top line: The popular international supermarket Ozmen International — based on London Road — risks losing its licence next week, after being caught out in an undercover police sting.

What happened: On 8 May, the council’s trading standards department requested a review of Ozmen International’s licence, after the shop failed two “underage sales test purchases” in the space of two months. 

• On 19 February, a 17-year-old South Yorkshire Police cadet was able to purchase a pack of three knives from the shop, despite it being illegal to sell knives to anyone under the age of 18.
• On 10 April, a 16-year-old volunteer working with the council’s trading standards team was able to purchase a vape (which was also a disposable vape, and therefore made illegal last June).

Undercover police sting: In a statement submitted to the council, an unnamed police officer wrote that the sting in February was part of a wider operation to test shops in the Sharrow and London Road area. Two underage police cadets in plain clothes tried to purchase knives from a variety of businesses, while two officers in uniform trailed behind them to watch what happened. 

After the 17-year-old cadet successfully purchased a pack of three knives from Ozmen International, the female employee who sold them was asked to attend Woodseats Police Station for a voluntary interview on 14 March. “In the interview, she confirmed that she had sold the knives to the cadet but was not aware that this was a criminal offence. She explained that she had received training and was aware that it was illegal to sell alcohol, cigarettes and vapes to anyone under the age of 18, but not knives.” South Yorkshire Police agreed to let the business off with a caution, provided this did not happen again.

A second chance: After being informed about the sting, the council’s trading standards department visited Ozmen International on 1 April to ensure underage sales would not happen again. “During the visit, the business was issued with a responsible retailer pack,” reads a statement from a council officer, “which contained staff training materials including links to free online safeguarding training provided by Sheffield Children Safeguarding Partnership, a refusals register and Challenge 25 posters.”

Despite this, nine days later, a 16-year-old volunteer working with the council was sold a now-illegal disposable vape, without being asked for ID. In a statement, an officer in the trading standards team says none of the advice given to the business earlier that month appeared to have been implemented.

What happens now: On Tuesday next week, Huseyin Ozmen — the owner of Ozmen International — will be summoned before the council to explain why the business should not lose or alter its licence to sell age-restricted goods. At the moment, Ozmen International has a 24-hour licence to sell alcohol and, earlier this year, was also granted a 24-hour alcohol licence at its sister site Ozmen Express in the city centre.

The council’s trading standards team is adamant that the business is “incapable of upholding the licensing objective of Protecting Children From Harm”. A further statement, from Sheffield Children Safeguarding Partnership, adds that they support “robust action”. While Ozmen International was contacted by The Tribune for comment, they have yet to respond.

We’re launching our new writers’ programme!

Now we’ve hit our 1,000 members, we need to get cracking on those pledges. There’s one we can make an immediate start on: number 2, nurturing local talent.

Today we are launching our new writers’ programme. If you’ve always wanted to have something published, but never known how to get started, then this is your chance. We’ve created a little form where you can pitch an idea to us — telling us in brief what it is, why you’re interested in it, and how you would go about reporting the story.

The deadline to pitch to us is in a fortnight’s time: Sunday 5th July. To be eligible, this doesn’t need to be the first time you’ve ever written something that’s been published, but we will be looking for contributors who aren’t already regular freelancers or full-time writers.

We will give feedback to everyone, and if your idea is chosen we’ll pay you a full fee and work with you to edit your story and get it published. We’ll be running this every two months, and we can’t wait to bring some new voices onto The Tribune.

Now onto the other pledges. On number 1) on disinformation, we’ve made a start but we’re still very keen to hear from teachers who think their pupils would benefit from a session on how journalists spot disinformation. We want to get plans lined up before the summer holidays so we can make a start when schools come back in September. E-mail us here. 

On 3) we’re getting cracking on our first Good News Edition, which we’ll publish next week. Do you know someone doing amazing work that you think Sheffield should know about? Then send Mollie an e-mail.

For 4) we’re going to start researching academic partners this week — if you know people doing good work on local inequality, then contact Daniel (though given uni summer holidays are already underway, and Daniel is about to go on paternity leave, this one is likely to get started in earnest in a couple of months). And for number 5) we’re combing through the calendar of upcoming council and combined authority meetings as we speak. We’ll publish our first council chamber round up at the end of July, and run them at the end of each month to summarise what’s been going on that month.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🎡 The family-run fairground that has operated in Endcliffe Park for decades has announced they will not be able to return next year, after the council decided not to renew their contract. In a Facebook post last week, Jon Pullin’s Amusements said they were “very saddened” by the decision but will remain in the park until this November. “Thank you for all the support you have given us over the past 40 years, we wish there could have been more.” A council report reveals that this decision was actually made in March, when councillors chose to give the contract to another unnamed operator, which presented a “financially better” bid.

🥩 The Star reports that a “brazen beef thief” smashed through “almost bulletproof” glass at Kapital bar in the city centre, before making off with hundreds of pounds worth of meat. In the early hours of Friday morning, the hamburglar reportedly spent 15 minutes breaking in using a metal pole and a cafe bollard and then left the business without a single steak to serve on Father’s Day. General manager Adam Nur said more than £200 of beef was stolen and that the raid caused £5,000 worth of damage. Police enquiries are ongoing.

🚑 In further pub crime news, the Banker’s Draft Wetherspoons in town has always had a reputation for being a bit rough. But in the last hour the BBC have reported that a man has suffered a "potentially life-altering" head injury after being attacked there yesterday. The pub is currently cordoned off and police are asking anyone for information to get in touch.

🏫 Mollie is reporting this week on the ongoing strike at Tapton school. Know anything? Send her an e-mail.

The weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on our successful campaign to add 1,000 members in a month. A huge thank you to every single one of you and all our readers.

Home of the week 🏡

This stunning three bedroom triplex apartment in Broomhall has its own private ground floor entrance at the rear, an impressive open-plan kitchen, dining and living space, and large sash windows which flood the rooms with natural light. It is on the market for £395,000.

Things to do 📆

Talk 🖼️ On Tuesday, join Sheffield Museums at the Millennium Gallery for a journey through the skies of John Constable and J. M. W. Turner, looking at how their cloudscapes redefined landscape painting. The turn of the nineteenth century saw a shift in the way people looked at and understood the sky. In the process, landscape painting was infused with a new vitality: one characterised by cloudiness. The free 45 minute talk begins at 1pm.

Food 🍛 On Wednesday, the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust welcomes back Ammi’s Kitchen for its monthly Supper Club, bringing an evening of global flavours, community and connection to the unique setting of the cemetery’s beautiful and historic Samuel Worth Chapel. On the menu this week will be “A Taste of Punjab” including pakora, aloo baingan, chana daal and rice, and a dessert of keer. Tickets are £22 and doors open at 6pm.

Drink 🍷 Also on Wednesday, Sheffield Wine Week returns for its third edition. Set up in 2024 by Tenaya Wine in Crookes and The Old Shoe in Sheffield city centre, the festival features five days of events at venues across the city, and will culminate with Wine Week Fest at Bole Hills in Crookes on Saturday, 27 June, a day long celebration of wine modelled after California outdoor wine fairs. Tickets are £12-£14 in advance and £18 on the door.