BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — A gay man who was subjected to homophobic slurs and threats of violence by another man who was on a train with him filmed the incident on his mobile phone, the Manchester Evening News reports.
According to the report, Tyrone Ruscoe was heading home from Blackpool with his friend Alex Platt when another passenger began calling them faggots and cunts, adding, among other things, that if his son was gay, he “wouldn’t have him in the house.”
Later, when a railway official tried to intervene, the man threatened to “whack” Ruscoe and Platt. Ruscoe told the Evening News the man appeared to take offence that he and Platt had been sharing a coat.
The railway official at first advised the two friends to move from the area, but one of them objected, asking “Why should we?”
Police arrested a 56-year-old man “on suspicion of a public order offence following reports of a homophobic-related incident on board a train from Blackpool North to Manchester Airport,” the report adds. He was reportedly cautioned before being released.
“Passengers and staff should have the right to travel without fear of violence and abuse and BTP will continue to work with train operating companies to take action against those who negatively impact on the lives of others,” a British Transport Police spokesperson told the Evening News.
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