In July 2019, we reported that Ryan Williams, a 24-year-old gay man from the UK was beaten unconscious outside a McDonalds near Manchester, England. This week, Williams learned that his attacker's sentence had been suspended and that the gay basher wouldn't face jail.
Yahoo News UK reports: “Brandon Forrester, 19 – who was out celebrating his 18th birthday at the time of the attack – pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to Williams at Preston Crown Court and was sentenced to a nine-month term in a young offender's institution. But due to an 18-month delay in proceedings because of the COVID pandemic and his ‘previous good character', his sentence was suspended fo 18 months, allowing him to walk free.”
Williams has been left stunned by the sentence and said he has been permanently changed by the attack: “As soon as the judge said the sentence was suspended I just left, I don't know how I feel about it. After court he started laughing at my mum's face, he showed no remorse. It was disgusting. It's been the longest 18 months of my life, I've gone through so many emotions. I've never been through anything like this. And he's just been told not to do it again.”
Williams told British media shortly after the attack: “My friends and I were heading to McDonalds for something to eat after a night out. There was a group of people nearby in the street and they started calling me and my friends gay. We went over and told them it's not okay to say things like that. As I walked away then one of them ran after me and he hit me in the back of the head.”
Wrote Williams on Facebook: “I never thought in my life that I would get beaten up for being GAY! Wtf has this world actually come too, you're all vile and disgusting! I want people to understand that being gay ISNT a choice and I can't help it, I'm sorry that you can't deal with it but hey ho no need to knock someone out because of it! I seriously can not believe that a homophonic (sic) attack happens! Which it does and it's wrong! Stand strong and love yourself, this isn't gonna stop me from being fabulous! BEING GAY IS OK!”
