Jamie Watson: 15-Year-Old Boy Brutally Attacked By Group Of Teens After Coming Out As Bisexual
After coming out as bisexual, a 15-year-old boy, Jamie Watson, of Birmingham in England was brutally attacked by a group of teens, according to the Mirror.
At about 3:30 p.m. July 22, Watson was attacked down the street from his home by three youths wearing masks after he revealed to his classmates that he was bisexual.
After coming out of the closet, Watson told reporters that he was constantly getting ridiculed at school until one day he was attacked.
“The assault lasted five minutes. I was punched and fell to the ground, where I was kicked and punched all over my body including my head,” said Watson. “It was absolutely terrifying and I feared for my life. There was three of them in total and they all wore masks.”
Thugs broke schoolboy's arm in 'homophobic attack'https://t.co/RM4tuTsZf6
— Birmingham Live (@birmingham_live) August 6, 2016
The teen boy “feared they would kill” him as he was severely injured during the attack and had to “stagger all the way home, covered in blood.”
Watson was taken to the Heartlands Hospital, where doctors say he sustained “broken ribs, a fractured arm, and cuts and bruises.”
He also “damaged the muscles in his neck due to the force of the kicks to my head.”
“I was in a lot of pain, and was struggling to breathe,” Watson stated.
The suspects were not arrested after the attack because they fled the scene. Watson went on to say that the attack was a “terrifying experience” and he “just wants them to be caught now as no one should have to go through this.”
However, Homophobic attacks happen often. In the early morning of Wednesday, July 21, an unidentified British man was walking by the Holy Trinity Church when he was stopped by a group of men on their early 20s, asking about his sexuality.
When they suspected the man to be a gay, the men reportedly ran behind him and “sprayed an aerosol can at the victim’s legs” before setting him on fire.
The suspects fled the scene, leaving the victim with “severe burns on his calves, which required skin grafts” in order to heal the skin.
Sarah Lewis, who is with the LGBT support charity Hart Gables, stated that homophobic crimes are “under-reported,” which is the main problem.
The Birmingham Mail reported that after Watson was attacked by a group of teens, his mother – Sharron Patrick – said, “This has knocked the confidence out of him. He has now gone to my mother and father’s home, where he can at least go out of his front door without feeling threatened.”
“This is a solution over the school summer holidays but is not the long-term answer. He feels like a prisoner in his own home.”
A detective, James Bennett, with Birmingham’s Violent Crime Team stated that they “are trawling CCTV for any clues and want to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time and who may have seen the attack to come forward.”
“At this stage we believe the attackers could be local and we are sure someone knows who these men are. This was a truly horrendous attack that left the teenager with severe injuries that needed hospital treatment.”
“The attackers showed no regard for their victim and repeatedly kicked him in the head, as well as his body. Rest assured that we will do everything we can to find those responsible.”
West Midlands Police officials, who have described the brutal attack as “truly horrendous,” are asking anyone with information regarding the homophobic attack to come forward or call Crimestoppers.
[Image via iStock Photo]
