British Teenage Boys Dodge Jail Time
Two British teenagers who harassed a gay man and his friend have been spared of jail time.
This past October, a sixteen-year-old and a seventeen-year-old, who’s identities are being withheld due to their ages, abused 19-year-old Will Mayrick while on the Jubilee Line train somewhere between West Ham and North Greenwhich in London.
Mayrick was on the way to a Halloween party and dressed up for the part. This apparently made Mayrick stand out like a sore thumb to the two teenagers who then decided to heckle the man.
The verbal argument eventually led to a physical altercation which resulted in Mayrick being forced into a headlock and told to apologize for being gay.
On top of that, Mayrick wasn’t alone at the time. He was joined by a 25-year-old female friend who was also punched and pushed to the ground during the fight.
As News Shopper reports, the two boys appeared before Bexley Youth Court this past week. The 17-year-old was charged a public order offense and the 16-year-old was charged with assault by beating.
Mayrick was of course in court to share his testimony and he also expressed how upset he was by the attack. He shared that since then, he’s had panic attacks whenever he had to ride public transport.
“I don’t think I deserve to be assaulted simply for being gay, and in this day and age I would have expected society to be more accepting,” the Mayrick said.
“Hate crimes will not be tolerated by British Transport Police. We believe that everyone has the right to travel safety,” police previously said in a statement.
“We won’t tolerate behavior where someone is targeted because they are perceived to be different, or made to feel uncomfortable on their journey.”
Both boys apologized in court with the excuse that they were very dunk at the time. The two underage boys then defended that statement by saying they’ve both quick alcohol all together.
That said, the defense seems to have worked as they both got off without jail time. Instead, the two teenagers were ordered to youth offender meetings for 12 months and each have to pay £150 each to the two victims.
And what got the two boys off from prison time? Magistrate Glenford Shipley-Younan said it was simply because of their age.
