An unprovoked homophobic attack on two gay men in Liverpool by a group of youths left one man hospitalised with serious injuries. Their group of three attackers were aged between 12 and 15.
The men, both in their 30’s, were making their way home on Saturday night at 9.20pm when they were approached by the group. The youths began to throw homophobic insults at the pair before one of them pulled out a knife. One of the men suffered serious head and neck injuries in the attack while the other was left with injuries to his hand.
We're appealing for info following a homophobic assault in Manningham Rd, #Anfield around 9.20pm last night, Sat 22 June. Two men were injured after being assaulted by youths armed with a knife. Please contact @MerPolCC, 101 or @CrimestoppersUK with info
https://t.co/TkdmDiw3Rn pic.twitter.com/tVfUBlWOj2— Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) June 23, 2019
Detective Inspector Tara Denn of the Merseyside Police Force in Liverpool has urged witnesses to come forward. In a statement, Denn said, “This was an appalling and unprovoked attack on two men simply making their way home and we are working tirelessly to locate those responsible. Two men have been left with significant injuries tonight and the hate and violence that has been inflicted on them is simply unacceptable and won’t be tolerated on the streets of Merseyside.”
Denn continued, “I want to reach out to the LBGT community, who I know will be deeply saddened by this news, and reassure you that we stand with you and if you report such incidents to the police, we will do our utmost to support and protect you and bring those responsible to justice. We are passionate about maintaining the right of all our communities to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect, and by working closely with our partners will continue to work to eradicate hate crime of all forms.”
It was recently reported that LGBT+ hate crime in the UK is on the rise with an increase of 144% between 2013-14 and 2017-18, including Northern Ireland where 150 of the homophobic crimes recorded in the 2018/2019 period were violent offences.
© 2019 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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