A man has been arrested in London in connection with two attacks, believed to be homophobic, which took place on Sunday June 8 at 4am outside the Lightbox Club in Vauxhall.

In the initial incident, a substance believed to be bleach was sprayed at two men following a verbal exchange with another group of men outside the South London venue. A third man was later sprayed with the same substance in the district of the club, police were informed. All three men were hospitalised, with one of the victims told by the doctors that he may not recover his sight.

The owners of Lightbox have released a statement saying, “This was an isolated incident and we have been speaking to police since it occurred, including supplying them with our CCTV footage of the local Vauxhall area. Our doors were closed at the time of the incident, with no gay events at Lightbox that morning. Our thoughts go out to the victims of this awful attack and we wish them a speedy recovery”.

Today, Chief Superintendent Richard Wood, Lambeth Borough Commander, issued a statement to attempt to reassure the capital’s LGBT community, “Lambeth police understand that although unusual the assaults in Vauxhall may leave the LGBT community anxious and concerned, however we will together with our partners try to protect and serve this community, the Metropolitan Police Service will take a robust approach to those who commit crimes motivated by any form of hate or discrimination”.