Teens charged with attacking same-sex couple on London bus deny charges

24th August 2019

The couple were attacked in June.

Four teenage boys, aged between 17 and 15, who can’t be named for legal reasons, have denied attacking a same-sex couple on a London bus in June. Two of the boys are 17, while another is 16 and the final one is 15.

Melania Geymonat, a 28-year-old Ryanair flight attendant from Uruguay, was en route to Camden town on a bus with a woman called Chris when they were allegedly approached by the group.

After allegedly harassing them with anti-gay slurs, they demanded they kiss each other in front of them for their own entertainment. When the couples refused, the group are alleged to have assaulted and robbed them.

The boys were accompanied by their parents and solicitors to the Highbury Corner Youth Court, where they all denied the charges of harassment and assault. The 15-year-old also pleaded not guilty to handling Geymonat’s stolen phone, as did the 16-year-old, although he did plead guilty to stealing a handbag. One of the 17-year-olds plead not guilty to a possession of cannabis charge.

The boys have been placed on police bail, and have been told not to contact each other or witnesses.

Prosecutor Arlene de Silva told the court: “This is a case where the Crown says that it is homophobically aggravated.”

Their trial is set to commence on November 28, and is expected to last two days.

Posting on Facebook, after the attack in June, Geymonat wrote: “What upsets me the most is that VIOLENCE HAS BECOME A COMMON THING, that sometimes it’s necessary to see a woman bleeding after having been punched to feel some kind of impact.

“I’m tired of being taken as a SEXUAL OBJECT, of finding out that these situations are usual, of gay friends who were beaten up JUST BECAUSE. We have to endure verbal harassment AND CHAUVINIST, MISOGYNISTIC AND HOMOPHOBIC VIOLENCE because when you stand up for yourself shit like this happens.

“By the way, I am thankful to all the women and men in my life that understand that HAVING BALLS MEANS SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. I just hope that in June, Pride Month, stuff like this can be spoken out loudly so they STOP HAPPENING!”