The shop front of supermarket chain Tesco is seen on 22 November 2020 in Uuttoxeter, England . (Getty/Nathan Stirk)
A man was punched repeatedly and subjected to homophobic abuse by a group of teens after he finished shopping with his partner at Tesco.
The Lancashire Telegraph reported that the Blackburn magistrates heard how one member of the group, Jordan Richard Moore, joined in the assault and punched the victim in the side of the head. Moore, 20 of Islington, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm.
Prosecutor Paul Sumner told the court how the youths followed the victim and his partner as they left a Tesco store in Accrington on 1 May 2020. Sumner told Blackburn magistrates that the victim lives with a borderline personality disorder.
He said the victim began to feel himself becoming “triggered” by the group of teenagers following him and his partner from the store.
“The youths asked why he was getting angry and made homophobic comments,” Summer told the court, reported the Lancashire Telegraph.
The court heard how another assailant – who was unnamed by the news outlet – punched the victim twice before Moore joined in and assaulted the victim. The victim was knocked to the floor where he continued to be punched.
According to the Lancashire Telegraph, the co-defendant in the case had appeared previously before Blackburn magistrates and was sent to the crown court to be sentenced concerning the homophobic attack.
Peter King, who represented Moore at court, said there was a distinction between his client and the co-defendant. He argued that the “other youth” was the one who made the “initial threats”, the “homophobic comments” and “struck the initial and most of the subsequent blows”.
“My client’s only physical involvement was to strike him once,” King told the court.
Moore has been remanded on bail until 24 August in preparation for a pre-sentence report, the Lancashire Telegraph reported.
The news outlet did not disclose if anyone else besides Moore and his co-defendant had been charged in relation to the homophobic attack last year.