Police 'Ignored Me' Gay Bashing Victim Charges

antrim | crime and justice | news report

Tuesday June 01, 2004 11:18

by Paul McAndrew

ardhanishvara at hotmail dot com

(Belfast, N. Ireland) An investigation has begun into the way Belfast police reacted to the beating of a gay man on a city street.

Police 'Ignored Me' Gay Bashing Victim Charges
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: May 31, 2004 8:03 p.m. ET

(Belfast, N. Ireland) An investigation has begun into the way Belfast police reacted to the beating of a gay man on a city street.

Ten men attacked Kristian Markus, 26, and a friend shortly after they left a gay club. As the pair were being beaten their assailants hurled homophobic comments at them before disappearing into the night.

Bloodied and bruised Markus called police for help while his friend chased after two of the attackers who had stolen his wallet.

But when police arrived on the scene they refused to take Markus' complaint seriously.

Although he identified some of the gang by their clothes, Markus, ad advertising agency manager, claims that officers told him it was not strong enough to make arrests.

Then he discovered that only a couple of blocks away his friend had been detained by police who accused him of brawling.

Markus said he went to the police station to set the record straight and encountered abuse from officers.

"Their attitude was just piss off and go home." Markus said.

As he waited to see his friend, he asked police officers to take a picture of his bruised and bloodied face as a record.

"They refused, saying it was not serious enough," he claims.

"I asked one of them if it would take a dead body to be considered serious enough and he said yes it would."

The exchange prompted another officer to suggest Markus was verbally abusing the officer and cautioned that he could be charged.

The attack and subsequent abuse came only a week after assistant chief constable Judith Gillespie pledged a crackdown on homophobic attacks. Gay bashings have nearly doubled over the past two years in Northern Ireland.
©365Gay.com® 2004

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Comments (1 of 1)

Sorry to hear it

by kokomero

Tue Jun 01, 2004 13:48

but I wouldn't hold out much hope of an inquiry unless there is a complete overhaul of the PSNI.

The guy is probably lucky to still be alive if you go on the experience of Robert Hammill and others kicked to death by thugs under the watchful eye of the police. Sinn Fein are quite correct in calling for their disbandment on this basis however the problem if what to do with all of the unemployed policemen if you do.

The North must rate as one of the most overpoliced political entities in the world.

Funnily enough by way of example I saw the spectacle of 5 PSNI land-rovers racing towards the site of a simple 2 car collision near Craigavon at the weekend, obviously they have more cops sitting around on their arses than they can keep gainfully employed.

Still doesn't explain however how they show so little interest in assault of various minority groups?

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Police 'Ignored Me' Gay Bashing Victim Charges

Comments (1 of 1)