This is the horrific moment a gang of teens launched the violent attack on a same-sex couple that shocked the world
A group of teens targeted Melania Geymonat and Christine Hannigan in the London bus attack. (Metropolitan Police)
Shocking surveillance footage shows a group of teenage boys surrounding a same-sex couple and treating them like a “sideshow”.
CCTV footage shown in court yesterday captures the moment when the teens brutally pummel two queer women after they refused to perform a sex act for them.
While travelling on the N31 bus in North London on May 30, Melania Geymonat and Christine Hannigan were pummelled by teenage boys in a violent homophobic and misogynistic attack.
Left drenched in blood, the couple were later hospitalised in what emerged as a harrowing reminder of the rising rates of anti-LGBT+ hate crime in the nation.
Three teens, aged 15, 16 and 17, pleaded guilty to Public Order Act and other offences, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Police.
Same-sex couple brutally battered by group of teen boys on London bus.
In the footage, the couple can be seen at the front of the bus with the three teens behind them making sexual hand gestures.
The 15-year-old teen can be seen making a scissoring gesture.
It then cuts to the teens standing over them both, making lewd gestures.
Hannigan then walks across the top floor of the double-decker bus.
One teen then launches a barrage of punches at her as the pair jostle.
Geymonat leaps from her seat to confront the group, but one of the teens trails her and lurches as she collapses to the floor.
A group of four teenage boys surrounded Melania Geymonat and Christine Hannigan after the couple refused to performa. sex act for the boys. (Metropolitan Police)
Huddled on the patterned bus seats, the couple are battered with coins and the teens block them from escaping.
One teen, wearing a grey puffer jacket, watches from afar and then swipes Hannigan’s brown pocketbook, fleeing down the stairs.
The final clip released to the public showed the throng of teens heading down the stairs. Geymonat and Hannigan, curled up on the seats, jump up and try to stop them.
They then engage in another violent scuffle.
What charges were made against the teens?
The teens were set to appear on trial on Thursday at Highbury Corner Youth Court, the Evening Standard reported.
Three teens pleaded guilty before proceedings began, while charges on a fourth were dropped.
The 15 and 16-year-olds each admitted two counts of using threatening words or behaviour to cause harassment or distress.
A teen pelted Christine Hannigan, who is bisexual, on a night bus in London. (Metropolitan Police)
While the 17-year-old admitted the same count, and denied being hostile towards the couple on the basis of sexual identity.
He will face a fact-finding hearing today into whether hate crime charges could be brought.
Furthermore, the 16-year-old previously admitted to stealing Geymonat’s handbag. He will appear at Wimbledon Magistrates Court on 19 December.
And the 15-year-old, who also admitted a count of handling stolen goods, will appear at the same court on 23 December.
‘They were clustering around watching them like some sort of sideshow,’ says judge.
Prosecutor Saira Khan described that it is “undisputed” that the couple were approached by “three of the group of four”.
He described how the teens saw the women as “some form of entertainment”, which was why the 17-year-old chucked coins.
District judge Susan Williams said the offence “plainly” involved the women’s sexual orientations.
A same-sex couple who were beaten on a London bus for refusing to kiss was just one of the many examples of rising hate crime in the UK. (Facebook)
“They were clustering around watching them like some sort of sideshow, they seem to think it a huge joke and behaved inappropriately.
“I don’t know if I would describe it as a ‘hate crime’ but they quite clearly targeted this couple.
“It is plainly the fact it was a same-sex couple that attracted the boys and provoked their interaction.
“I would hope in this day and age we could tolerate others and not carry on in the way that they did.”
