Gay man says attackers let off

The victim of a hate crime who was forced to watch a sex act at gun point claims police have failed to make more arrests in his case because he is gay.

However, police say the man is wrong and they are continuing to do all they can to solve the crime.

The Auckland man, who has name suppression, was attacked in his home in 2016 by Laura Jean Landon and two other men.

The trio lured the man out of his house by pretending to be a 17-year-old male on gay dating app Grindr. The victim was attacked and forced back into his house. Over 21⁄2 hours, the man was threatened, homophobic slurs were shouted at him and a shotgun was pointed at him.

They made him pray his ‘‘disease’’ would go away and threatened to cut his fingers off with a razor.

At one point, the victim was forced to watch Landon perform a sex act on one of the male attackers. The man was told ‘‘this is how you do it’’.

He was asked to perform the same sex act on one of the male attackers but refused.

The robbers left, taking jewellery, cash, antique weapons, and the victim’s car.

The man was given a number to call when he had $5000 to get his car back.

Police later arrested Landon for her part in the attack, but have failed to arrest the two men.

Speaking to Stuff, the man said he believed police failed to pursue his other attackers because he is gay. While he said no police officer had ever said anything derogatory towards him, the man believed his sexuality had influenced their decision making.

‘‘The whole thing is absolutely atrocious. If I was a white girl from Remuera, these men would not be free, the police would be all over it. The homophobia was very subtle. I would like the police to do their job, and forget about my sexuality,’’ he said.

The man said police knew the identity of the male attackers because he had picked them out of a photo board, and had even found them on Facebook.

Landon had also given the two other attackers’ names to police, he said.

‘‘How much more info do they need? It’s been two years. They have got video evidence of the three outside my apartment.

‘‘I even had an officer tell me I should be thankful they made one arrest, and not none.’’

Following the attack, the man left the country. He has returned but continues to suffer from the trauma of the ordeal.

Detective Senior Sergeant Geoff Baber said police refuted ‘‘any claim of homophobia’’ in relation to the investigation.

Police did not have sufficient evidence to charge any other individuals. The case remained open and police would look at any new information, Baber said.

Landon’s appeal to reduce her jail term of four years and six months was dismissed on Monday.