Teen strangled and forced to apologize for ‘being gay’ in London tube attack
A 19-year-old man was strangled and forced to apologize for being gay during a homophobic attack on a London Tube train.
The victim was travelling on the Jubilee line between West Ham and North Greenwich with his friends when the violent assault took place. The group were in fancy dress for a party.
The suspects verbally abused the victim and his friends using homophobic language. After the group responded to their taunts, the assailants became more aggressive. The attackers pulled the young man from his seat and put him into a headlock, “strangling him,” the British Transport Police said in a statement.
“They demanded the victim apologise for being gay which eventually the victim did as he was struggling to breathe."
They also took the man’s phone and threatened to stab him. After they let the man go and handed him his phone back and a fight broke out between the victim’s friends and the two suspects.
A man was abused, placed in a headlock and told to apologise for being gay in a homophobic assault on a Jubilee line train. Do you recognise these people? We'd like to speak to them in connection with the incident. Please text 61016 if you know them. https://t.co/Q8N1Cl67Ufpic.twitter.com/hYxAf0s0Ta
— BTP London (@BTPLondon) December 4, 2017
One of the victim’s friends, a 25-year-old woman, was punched and pushed to the ground. On Monday the police circulated photographs of the alleged attackers looking for further information about the assault which took place on October 21 shortly after 11pm local time.
“Hate crime will not be tolerated by British Transport Police. We believe that everyone has the right to travel safety,” police said. “We won’t tolerate behaviour where someone is targeted because they are perceived to be different, or made to feel uncomfortable on their journey.”
