UK: Police ‘disappointed’ at lack of public response over homophobic attack on teen
Detectives investigating a violent homophobic assault on a teenager in Preston say they are disappointed at the lack of response from the public.
Richard Kennedy, 18, was attacked as he left the Evoke nightclub, after an LGBT-friendly night, during the early hours of Wednesday 26 February.
Several of his teeth were dislodged due to the force of the impact and he awaits surgery on his mouth.
His legs, face and chest were also injured.
Last week new images of Mr Kennedy’s graphic images were released.
The original images posted on Facebook, directly after the attack, have since been shared over 150,000 times.
But detectives say they have received no new leads or calls.
Det Sgt Martin Pearson, of Preston CID, said: “It is disappointing because people are clearly shocked by what happened, but we are still hopeful someone will give us the breakthrough we need.”
Anybody with any information can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at Crimestoppers-uk.org.
UPDATE:
On Thursday 12 March, Lancashire Constabulary announced that Mr Kennedy’s injuries had been self-inflicted as a result of a fall and that it was no longer treating the incident as an assault.
PinkNews acted in good faith in publishing details about Mr Kennedy’s claims and assisting Lancashire Constabulary with publicising the investigation.
