15-year-old boy punched and kicked in ‘homophobic’ attack in Scotland

Words: Alastair James; pictures: Wiki

The mother of a 15-year-old boy from Fife in Scotland has said she’s scared after her son was the victim of a brutal homophobic attack.

On Wednesday 27 October three people subjected the boy, who can’t be named for legal reasons, to abuse while on a bus, before physically attacking him after he got off in the City Road area of St Andrews. 

The attackers are said to have attacked the victim from behind causing him to hit his head on the ground as they punched and kicked him.

“It’s just really scary”

“It’s really upsetting,” the mother told The Courier. “I’ve been young myself and I can understand that kids sometimes can be a bit cruel towards anyone who is different but the whole violence, that’s really scary.”

She says it could have been much worse and she’d never thought her son wouldn’t be able to walk around the town because these kinds of incidents don’t happen often. “It’s just really scary,” she added.

The victim did not require medical treatment, but says people hate him for being gay.

The boy’s mother has also said that while he comes from a very “open and understanding” family the attack has made her think “‘are these people telling my son that he should be in the closet?’”

“My son doesn’t hold back who he is and I think that’s the problem, is he going to feel like he has to hold back from being himself?” she continued.

Police Scotland are investigating the incident as a hate crime and said enquiries are ongoing.