West Midlands police have arrested a man and are searching for two other suspects in connection with an “outrageous” homophobic hate crime in Birmingham’s Gay Village in which two men were abused and then cut with broken bottles.
The man, believed to be Mosin Mahmood, 31, handed himself in after an appeal in which he was named along with two others. He was arrested on suspicion of wounding and remains in custody.
Officers still want to speak to Sohail Khan, 24, and Ishaaq Ayaz, 21, after the attack outside the city’s Missing Bar in the early hours of Sunday 15 August.
In what police described as an “outrageous” and “shocking” attack, two men – named only as Rob and Patrick, who are in their 30s – were left covered in blood.
The married couple from Oxfordshire were first subjected to homophobic abuse by the occupants of a passing SUV car on Bromsgrove Street near the city centre.
They were then attacked with bottles, with both suffering cuts and Patrick left unconscious.
West Midlands police named and released photographs of three men after extensive inquiries, including analysis of CCTV footage and recording several witness statements.
On Sunday, Sgt Marc Petford said: “We’ve had a good response to our appeal and I’m grateful for people sharing it far and wide. This was a brutal attack and we need to find the people responsible.
“One man has been arrested following our appeal and I would encourage the other two to follow suit and also come and speak to us.”
On Saturday, he said: “This was a shocking homophobic attack on two men enjoying a night out in our city. It’s outrageous and we’re determined to bring to justice the people responsible.”
During the attack, Patrick had his phone snatched by one of three men as he tried to film the abuse, and one of their female friends was dragged along by the car as she tried to get it back.
The woman, who is in her 20s, suffered a foot injury.
Rob then ran after the car to challenge the abusers before they stopped at a red light, got out of the car and began attacking him with bottles.
Patrick said he ran to help but was knocked unconscious by one of the men.
Speaking to the BBC, Rob said: “It’s just shocking that would happen in 2021 in the UK. Especially in the Gay Village – that should be a safe area to be who you want and not have to tolerate people yelling homophobic remarks at you.”
Rob was quoted in the Birmingham Mail as saying: “They had no business in the Gay Village at 4am except for trying to start fights with gay people.
“We had come up from Oxfordshire for a friend’s birthday party that night. It was a nice night out and there had been guys sat in front of the bar in a SUV.
“We tried to be nice to them, I said: ‘Is it your birthday?’ or something, and they started yelling at us and calling us homophobic names.”
Police are urging anyone with information on the men’s whereabouts to get in touch, quoting log 552 of 15 August.
