A man has come forward after police issued an appeal to find a group of men who beat up a gay couple on a train.
Phil Poole, 35, and Zbynek Zatloukal, 26, had fallen asleep on a London-bound train from Reading following a Valentine’s Day dinner, when they were set upon by the group.
The couple were both repeatedly punched and kicked, and were left with injuries requiring hospital treatment. Poole lost two teeth in the attack, while Zatloukal suffered a suspected broken eye socket. Both were also left with bruising and cuts.
CCTV images of the attackers were released by police on Friday. In a statement, British Transport police (BTP) confirmed that one of five had come forward to speak to them. The four others are still wanted in connection with the homophobic assault.
Describing the attack, Poole told the Evening Standard: “I can’t really remember much about what happened because I was in such shock when I woke up.
“I managed to get up and stumble down the carriageway but then they followed me. I’m not a violent person at all. I’ve never even been punched so I didn’t even know how to defend myself.”
The BTP said that hate crime such as this attack would “absolutely not be tolerated”. Investigating officer PC Peter Taylor told the BBC: “This was a very nasty assault committed by a group of men who attacked two other men while they were sleeping on the train. The victims believe the motivation for the attack was that the offenders thought they were gay.”
If you recognise the men or have any other information about the incident, please contact British Transport police by calling 0800 40 50 40 or text information to 61016 quoting reference number 30 15/2/17.
• This article was amended on 6 March 2017. An earlier version referred to the Metropolitan police in the last paragraph where British Transport police was meant.
