A GAY couple who have suffered brutal homophobic violence at the hands of a teenage gang on the doorstep of their Camden Town home made an emotional appeal for help yesterday (Wednesday).
The couple, who have asked not to be named, say they have been trapped in their Inverness Street flat since Monday, when Somali youths shouted abuse and beat one of them in the head with knuckle dusters. Dealers from the gang have remained outside their door ever since and the couple – both in their 20s – say they have been relying on friends to bring them food from the shops.
Inverness Street has been plagued by gang violence for more than a year, as warring drug dealers fight for supremacy and police and council officials struggle to restore order.
Earlier this year opera director Dr Jonathan Miller joined traders and residents in calling for action from the authorities. And last week the gang was caught on camera on the rampage in nearby Parkway.
Speaking yesterday, the victim of the beating, who has a black eye and cuts to his face and has filmed the gang from his window all week, said: “Every time I step outside I am subjected to abuse.
“I have seen my street deteriorate over the last year: first they smashed open the phone exchange box to hide their drugs in, then the dealers moved in with graffiti and threats and noise at night, then there was fighting after the restaurants became empty at night.
“Then, on Monday, I was attacked on my own doorstep. I cannot go to work and I cannot go to the shops – I am trapped in my own home.”
His partner added: “In front of a market full of about 100 people one of them stood up on a platform and pointed to me and shouted ‘Hahahaha chichi man’, which is a derogatory patois term for homosexual. It was horrible, being singled out and made an example of in front of a crowd. This man and a friend then mauled my partner, splitting the skin on his eyebrow, spreading blood over the terrace of a restaurant.”
Anthony Brooks, the former Camden police chief who is now in charge of community safety at the Town Hall, said Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos) are being sought against several members of the gang.
He added: “We are looking to try to improve the design of Inverness Street market to help design out crime and we have been working with youths to build understanding between police, residents, the council and these youths.” Police said one man had been arrested yesterday (Wednesday).