UK: Two men jailed for 2 years after anti-gay New Years Day attack
Two men have been jailed for a homophobic attack in the Lincolnshire coastal town of Mablethorpe.
Billy Finnemore, 31, and Kieran Page, 22, both from Mablethrope, were among a group who chased after the victim who was knocked to the floor and beaten up after leaving a bar in the early hours of New Years Day 2011.
A jury heard that Finnemore confronted the man shouting “Get the gay” after seeing the victim urinate near a block of flats.
After trying to escape his attackers, the man was knocked to the floor where he was kicked in the head and body.
He suffered facial injuries.
The Louth Leader newspaper reports Finnemore and Page each denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm but were found guilty at Lincoln Crown Court.
They have now been jailed for two years.
Finnemore admitted a further charge of threatening to damage property and was given a consecutive six-month sentence.
His defence lawyer Robert Underwood said his client suffers from depression and is vulnerable.
He claimed that after Finnemore was remanded in custody he found prison life very difficult.
Judge Michael Heath told the pair: “This was a group attack. You two were not the only ones assaulting him. It was a terrible beating.
“It was unacceptable and indefensible and there was a strong homophobic element to this attack.”
