A man who was beaten up on a Tube train after being subjected to homophobic abuse said it was “completely demoralising” that nobody stepped in to help.
Alan Hunter, a retail worker from Canada Water, said he was assaulted on the London Underground last month after being called a “f*****” by a woman on the train.
Mr Hunter, 35, said he was abused after attending a Steps concert at the O2 Arena on November 27.
The incident happened after he asked the woman and a group of her friends to stop using nitrous oxide balloons on the train.
A heated argument took place, after which the woman reportedly attacked him with her friends joining in on the assault.
(Image: PA wire)
He admitted being verbally abusive towards the woman but only after she used a homophobic slur against him.
Mr Hunter, originally from Newcastle, said: “She pushed us twice in the head, grabbed my hair, I grabbed hers in self defence, and then the six lads jumped on top of us.”
He said he was disappointed that nobody stepped in to stop the attack, which left him with cuts and extensive bruising on his face.
“People are protecting themselves and trying to be safe in a dangerous place, but at the same time, it’s just completely demoralising, if I saw someone getting hurt I would jump in and help.” he said.
Police data revealed homophobic and transphobic hate crimes have reached their highest monthly levels since the pandemic began.
A British Transport Police statement said, “British Transport Police received a report of a homophobically aggravated assault on the Jubilee line at London Bridge station shortly after midnight on Sunday November 28.
“We take hate crimes extremely seriously and are making a number of inquiries into this incident.
Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 31 of 28/11/21.
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