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Gay man fights for his life in hospital as teens arrested

by smkovalinsky | October 30, 2009 at 05:59 am

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UPDATE: Liverpool, UK
A gay man who was in training to become a police officer is fighting for his life in a Liverpool hospital as police arrest teens.

James Parks, age 22, was in the Gay Village section of Liverpool last Sunday night when a group of youths beat him as they shouted homophobic slurs.

Parks suffered multiple skull fractures and sustained critical injuries. Police say the youths are all ages 13- 18, and as many as 13 may have been involved in the attack.

Police in Liverpool are treating this as a homophobic-motivated hate crime.

Three people have been arrested after a homophobic attack which left a young man in hospital with serious head injuries.
The 22-year-old man, named as James Parks, was out with friends in Street, in Liverpool's gay area, when he was attacked by a group of around 13 youths.

He is a trainee officer with Merseyside police.

Police have arrested three boys, two aged 15 and one aged 14, from the Kirkdale area, on suspicion of assault.

The attack happened on Sunday evening at around 10pm.

The man is said to be in a life-threatening condition with multiple fractures to his skull.

A police spokeswoman told the Liverpool Echo: “We are treating the incident as a homophobic attack.

“We believe from witnesses there may have been up to 13 people involved in the attack aged 15–18.

“Three youths from Kirkdale have been arrested on suspicion of assault in connection with the incident. There are two aged 15 and a 14 year old.

“The road will remain closed until the forensic teams have completed their investigation."