Gay couple targeted by gang who launched attack with ‘wooden panel with nails in’

A gay couple were targeted by a gang who viciously attacked one of the men with a ‘wooden panel with nails in it’.

Callum Griggs was also punched and kicked in the terrifying assault in High Road, Chadwell Heath, east London at 5.30pm on Sunday.

The 23-year-old spent 13 hours in A&E as a result, where medics glued together a gash in his eye.

Mr Griggs had been walking along the high street with his partner Brad Balueta, when the pair were targeted by the gang, who were standing outside a fast food shop.

Mr Balueta said the six or seven youths, who he believes were aged between around 18 and 20, started throwing slurs at the pair, calling them ‘batty boys’ and ‘fags’.

The 24-year-old told Yahoo News: ‘Callum calmly asked them what they said, and one told him he knew where he lived, then named the street, and told him, “I will kill you”.

‘I am out and proud but in all my life I have never felt so scared. He clearly knew where my boyfriend lived, and was very aggressive.’

He said that one of them then broke off a wooden panel with nails in it and began threatening Mr Griggs with it.

While this was happening the couple noticed people inside nearby shops and on the street were watching but no one came to help.

One of the gang then took hold of Mr Griggs’ shirt, explained Mr Balueta, before another ‘sucker-punched’ him in the head.

‘I was terrified, they were piling on to him and it was three on one. They were punching and kicking him.’

He added that, still, no one came to their aid.

The assault went on for a number of minutes, before the gang fled. Mr Buelta said one of them laughed as he ran off, telling Mr Griggs he had his blood on his hands.

Two women who had been driving past saw that Mr Griggs was hurt and offered to drive the couple home.

From there, Mr Griggs, a teaching assistant and sports coach, called police but was told to go to hospital to get treated first and call them back afterwards.

After having his eye injury glued at A&E the pair returned home and phoned police as suggested.

According to Mr Balueta, they were told officers would visit them at 2pm on Monday, but no one came.

They were then informed on two more occasions visits would happen when they didn’t, before officers eventually arrived to take a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Balueta also wrote about his experience on X (formerly Twitter), and asked people to share his posts.

He said: ‘I [want] to show that this s**t has been happening to my community for a [long] time and is still happening in front of our very eyes today. Verbal or physical, homophobia/transphobia is a real thing.’

He also expressed his anger at the lack of help from bystanders, posting: ‘The fact so many people were watching on the high street and did nothing and just watched or ignored is appalling and just shows what society is like and has been like for so long.’

He thanked the two women who stopped their car, however, describing them as ‘angels’.

Jon Cruddas, the local Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, which covers Chadwell Heath, said he was saddened to hear of the attack.

He told Yahoo News he would be making representations to both the local authority and police to seek assurances that the incident would be investigated.

The Metro has contacted the Met Police for a comment.

The attack follows a homophobic stabbing on August 13, which saw two men knifed outside a nightclub on Clapham High Street in South London.

The pair, one aged in their 20s and the other in their 30s, were targeted by a man who knifed them before fleeing the scene.

The attack happened outside a popular gay bar called the Two Brewers at around 10.15pmas many people were heading home.

Also in August, a woman described how she was attacked by two men while walking her dog wearing a T-shirt that read, ‘My Girlfriend Bought Me This’.

The men asked why Heulwen Rowcliffe was wearing the T-shirt, before pushing her to the ground.

One man then hit her while the other kicked her in the back.

Home Office data published yesterday reveals that in the year leading up to March 2023, there were more than 24,000 hate crimes in the UK against people because of their sexual orientation.

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