Preston mum whose transgender child was attacked speaks as Lancashire launches hate crime campaign

A distraught mum whose teenager was violently attacked in a homophobic incident at a bus station today welcomed a campaign to tackle hate crime and support victims in Lancashire.
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Figures show in the last six months the county's LGBT community suffered 77 'sexual orientation' related incidents in South Division, which incorporates Preston and South Ribble, and 92 in West Division, which covers Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre and Lancaster - with a further 14 and 16 respectively affecting transgender people.

The vast majority of hate incidents in Lancashire were race related, with 302 in South, and 254 in West, and in addition there were 27 religiously motivated reports in South and 16 in West.

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Disabled people also fell victim to hate crime, with 49 reports in South and 23 in West.

PCC Clive GrunshawPCC Clive Grunshaw
PCC Clive Grunshaw

As £6,000 is invested into a campaign - 'Let's spell it out – This. Is. Hate' - to tackle hate crime in the county, Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw said: "I'd urge people to report any hate incident - we need to know what's going on and when and where there are incidents, so we can target resources in the right places."

A Preston mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, previously spoke of criminal justice failings when her child's attacker, who screamed homophobic comments, was charged with a simple common assault, rather than it being treated as a hate crime - which allows prosecutors to apply for an uplift in sentence.

Her daughter, who prefers to identify as a boy, was alone at Preston Bus Station, at around 10.15pm on February 12, 2019, waiting for a bus when drunk defendant Michael Kellett, then 41, of Stanley Croft, Woodplumpton, Preston, walked past, shouting 'f*** off' and "F***ing gay boy", before raining kicks and blows on the 16-year-old.

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The family was not given the chance to make a victim impact statement, or informed properly about the date of the hearing, in which Kellett was given an £80 fine.

Reacting to the campaign, the mum said: "We're pleased to hear the issues are being raised in a campaign but at the same time we are disappointed this support didn't seem to be around when my child needed it.

"Our experience shows that as well as highlighting services to victims, police themselves need to be trained more effectively to give victims the confidence to come forward.

"She has suffered at least 10 incidents really, including abuse before the attack from people in the street, and incidents since, when she has been circled by a group of teenagers and given grief online. A man started on her in one of the pubs in town.

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"But because of what happened she hasn't had the confidence to come forward about the more recent incidents. She's still angry and puts it off reporting it - she says what's the point when he got a fine and was free to walk the streets."

" We weren't given the chance to make a victim statement to the court which we feel could have made a difference to his sentence, in fact I went to court and nobody knew who I was. Everything seemed to be focused on the perpetrator.

"My child is now 18 and is still frightened to go to the bus station, but a week after the case I saw the perpetrator in a beer garden drinking.

"We never got a reason why it wasn't classed as a hate crime."

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Mr Grunshaw said the aim was about raising awareness for those affected so they can access support from Lancashire Victim Services.

He explains: " Noone should be targeted for who they are, it's an attack on their core identity and who they are as an individual.

"I say to people you can put locks on doors to protect yourself but you can't change your identity and nor should you have to.

"We have a campaign around these issues every year because unfortunately it's needed, it's a really important campaign.

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"One of the things often said to me is that hate crime is underreported - people at community meetings will tell me about incidents and always, the obvious question I'll ask is if they reported it - and nearly every time they will say no.

"We don't want to see any hate incidents in Lancashire, and I wish these campaigns weren't needed, but it does happen."

Referring to the teenager's ordeal he called the case an "absolute failure" and added: " We have a proud record in not only raising awareness with the public but within the organisation itself, so I'm quite saddened and appalled - that should not be happening.

"I think Lancashire has come a long way in a short time, we are one of the best forces in the country in terms of inclusion.

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"It's only one step of the journey - but we're moving in the right direction."

Nafysa Adam-Khan, an independent Victim Advocate specialising in hate crime support for Lancashire Victim Services (LVS), says the county is "getting better" at recognising hate crime and has many more organisations on board to work together to encourage victims to come forward, as well as educational tools to explain what to do if you're a victim.

She adds: "That's not to say we should take our eye off the ball, events such as terrorism and the pandemic can trigger discriminatory behaviour towards others. We can't afford to be complacent.

" This campaign is putting LVS at the heart of it - we want people to know they should not be suffering in silence. We know there are so many barriers to stop people coming forward to report it. A lot of people want to offload, but feel it's too trivial to actually tell the police. There's this real reluctance to bother police with it, they'll internalise it, and that's not good for people's wellbeing.

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"It's never 'just name calling', it really does hurt. We want people to know that hate runs deep.

" Our message is that from the first instance it needs to be reported to make for a stronger case."

She also urged third parties who witnessed hate crime to report incidents, adding: " Don't always assume the victim will report it."

Anyone affected by hate crime can contact Lancashire Victim Services on 0300 323 0085, chat online at www.lancashirevictimservices.org or find out more about hate crime support at

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