Gay couple gets homophobic abuse from teenage gang on night bus

Same-sex partners Daniel McDonnell and Giles Norton were subjected to a barrage of homophobic abuse by a gang of four or five teenagers on a night bus in Cheltenham

A same-sex couple were subjected to homophobic abuse by a gang of youths on the bus, police said.

Daniel McDonnell and Giles Norton were attacked by four or five teenagers on the late night bus service in Cheltenham last week.

Gloucestershire Police believe the couple, who attended a drag event in the city, were targeted because Mr McDonnell was dressed in drag.

Officials said the couple were subjected to homophobic abuse by youths on the top deck of the No 10 bus on the evening of March 12 as it traveled from Cheltenham to Gloucester.

The bus driver was made aware of the incident and stopped at Shurdington Road to allow the victims to disembark.

The group, who made various comments about the couple, were described as white, all men, in their late teens, and one of them was wearing a black sweatshirt.

Police said the incident was being treated as a hate crime.

Pc Steph Lawrence, County Hate Crimes Coordinator, said: “Gloucestershire is a welcoming, friendly and diverse county and we will not tolerate hate in any of its forms.

“We will be working hard to address this with the help of our partner agencies across the county.

“As a force, we have a four-year strategic plan to combat hate. We encourage all victims of these crimes to come forward and report back to either us or Gloucestershire Victim Support.

“We also encourage people not to be spectators and to report on behalf of others.”

Police are asking witnesses to the incident to get in touch and surveillance cameras are investigating to identify those involved.