I don’t think we’ll ever be able to hold hands in the street again
GAY COUPLE VICIOUSLY ATTACKED BY MASKED HAMMER THUGS
A GAY couple assaulted by a group of thugs wearing balaclavas say they fear they will never be able to hold hands in public again.
Ryan Winnard, 21, was walking on Coronation Road in Radcliffe, Bury, at around 8.15pm with boyfriend Max Green, 18, when a group of men approached them.
Hurling homophobic slurs at the couple as they held hands, the group then began attacking the pair as they tried to walk off.
Max was hit in the back of the head, while Ryan was punched and attacked with a hammer.
Following the horrific attack, Ryan suffered a broken nose and a fractured cheek bone. “Me and my boyfriend were heading home from his grandparents and as we were walking we could hear a group of lads,” Ryan, from Salford, told the M.E.N.
“We were holding hands and they started shouting over at us calling us f ****** and gay boys. We carried on walking as we had no intention of starting any confrontation with them.
“Before we knew it, there were around five to six lads dressed in balaclavas and gloves running at us. They started attacking us, punching and kicking us, and were hitting me in the knees with a hammer.”
Max also suffered a deep abrasion to his head. A number of items, including a mobile phone and bank cards, were stolen. “I can remember hearing them telling Max to empty his pockets and to give them everything he had, they then
all came to me and beat me up for my Canada Goose coat,” Ryan said. “They then took my phone, bag, shoes, bank cards, keys – all of my belongings.”
Ryan added: “I rang the ambulance and police and waited for around more than two hours. It’s one of those things where we could have been laying on the floor unable to get up.
“They’ve been really good but when we needed them, they weren’t there.”
Ryan says he and Max now feel they won’t be able to hold hands in public again. “I don’t think I’ll ever, ever walk around Radcliffe again,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to hold my partner’s hand in the street again.
“I should be able to walk around and hold my boyfriend’s hand without fear of something like this happening.”
A police spokesperson said: “No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.”
Anyone with information on Tuesday’s attack can contact police via www. gmp.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident 2795 of 23/11/21.