London bus homophobic attack: Teen who brutally assaulted lesbian couple spared jail
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
One of the teenagers — who harassed two women, when they refused to kiss on a London bus and was involved in assaulting them — has been spared jail.
MEAWW previously reported that a 17-year-old, a 16-year-old, and 15-year-old had been arrested and charged after attacking Melania Geymonat, 28, of Uruguay, and her American girlfriend Christine Hannigan, 29, on a bus in West Hampstead, North West London, on May 30.
Footage of the horrific incident shows the boys punching the women in the face multiple times and throwing coins them, leaving them bruised and bloodied. One of the teens also robbed Geymonat's handbag and Hannigan's phone.
The incident had hit headlines across the world and made for a highly-publicized trial, where Hannigan testified that she had felt "scared" and "physically cornered," and that the suspects asked them to "show them how lesbians have sex."
"Melania and I were together in a romantic sense," she told the Highbury Youth Court at their hearing last month, where all three had pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including committing aggravated hate crimes and handling stolen property.
"We were being affectionate with each other. They wanted us to show them how lesbians have sex. They were saying 'oh lesbians' and they wanted to know how lesbians have sex and for us to show them," she continued. "They made several comments about scissoring. I did not speak to them. I did not feel that they wanted a response from me."
Geymonat had similarly told the authorities that the teens had demanded she and her partner kiss, made crude sexual gestures at them and assaulted them after they refused to comply despite them trying to diffuse the situation.
This past week, the 16-year-old was sentenced to an eight-month referral order — he had been initially sentenced for six months, but had it extended by two months by chair magistrate Peter Bullet, who called it a "homophobic trigger" and "and the context for this offending behavior."
The teen, who cannot be named due to his age, was also fined $130 and ordered to pay a surcharge of $26 at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court and apologize for hurting the two women, as well as his family and friends. He had promised to make it up to them and will "show them that's not the person I am."
The 17-year-old was previously similarly given a four-month youth rehabilitation order and supervision over the attack, while the 15-year-old will be sentenced on 23 December.