Sadly, another report from Britain about a disturbing gay bashing…
According to Sheffield Today, Kevin Faulkner, a shop assistant in Sheffield, England sustained facial and head injuries after a gang attacked him. Faulkner was drinking at a pub with a female colleague when, upon leaving, he noted a “group of youths” being discourteous to the staff. Faulkner exchanged words with the group over their behavior, and the group followed him out of the pub:
“I am in a lot of pain and quite shaken up by it all. It was an unprovoked attack…There was a group of youths in there, about five or six of them, all in their late teens or early 20s. They were being really rude to the staff so I told them a ‘please’ wouldn’t go amiss. They seemed fine with it and we left to get a taxi. Then we saw some of them come running down the street and one of them came up and started asking if I was gay. He kept saying it over and over again. When I said ‘Yes’ one of them punched me in the face and pushed me over. He kicked me up against the wall and at least three of them started kicking me. The next thing I can remember is being inside the ambulance…I was in a good mood and I wasn’t being aggressive. There were lots of people around at the time but nobody did anything to stop it. If anyone saw what happened I would urge them to come forward.”
Three men were arrested in the attack, and released on bail pending further investigation, according to the South Yorkshire Police: “We are treating this very seriously and a full investigation is underway into this nasty assault, which appears to have a homophobic element.”
News also came out today regarding an incident from 2004. Jamie Pearce, a British builder, was sentenced to three years and six months for beating a gay man on a Brighton beach that summer. Pearce saw the man kissing his boyfriend, approached him and said “You don’t do this kind of stuff here, you faggot,” and then proceeded to stomp on the man’s head and face, according to The Argus. Though he was given a sentence, the paper says Pearce is likely to be released right away as he has been in police custody on remand since February 2005.
Gang of youths attack gay man [sheffield today]
Gay kiss sparked attack by builder [the argus]
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Two Brothers Assaulted by Homophobic Mob in England [tr]
Sentencing of Teen Brit Gay Bashers Criticized [tr]
An Update: Recent Hate Crimes, Robberies in Britain [tr]
