A woman was left unconscious by a thug who attacked her dog then her in a vicious hate crime. Prison officer, Hayley Smith, believes she was beaten purely because she is gay.
She suffered two fractures to her jaw. But five days after reporting the assault to GMP no officer had been to see her, even though she had been able to take a picture on her phone of the culprit.
Today, after the Manchester Evening News contacted the force, GMP, sent out an officer to see Hayley. Hayley had taken her dog for a walk and was on Brookhouse Avenue, in Peel Green, Eccles, when the thug struck. She had never met the man before and did not know him. She was found, knocked out, by a paramedic who was in the area attending another incident.
Hayley said: "So I am 32, a prison officer, and so am not really frightened by much. I was at the opposite side of the road, walking my dog Milo who is a little mix breed rescue from Bosnia. He got excited to go and say hello to the the dog across the street. The man he had like a Staffy or pit bull looking thing.
"The man shouted over, and I thought he said "do you want to come over and say hello" so I walked over. The man kicked Milo in the face, but Milo didn't react . So I questioned the man, asking why he would do that to my dog.
"He said 'to shut it up'. I told him he was out of order and why would he kick my dog to which then he told me " shut up you dyke" I was like what is your problem? He said that his head has gone and I needed to "shut my mouth you man wanna be dyke".
"So I walked away and I also took a picture of the man, which I have told the police I have. I was angry and called him a rat. He then said "I will show you a real man you dyke Then I felt almighty pain in the right side of my face, and I then I was woken up by the paramedic. I went to Trafford General at 6pm and was then sent to MRI as they didn't know if I needed surgery. I was then admitted after waiting seven hours for a bed as I was told I needed surgery.
"I have a fracture on both sides of my face nerve damage, a broken nose and concussion. However it has been decided not to operate but to scan my face weekly, see if my jaw moves at all and needs surgery or if it will heal okay.
"I am now not able to do my job for three months. I can't eat solid food for 6-8 weeks. I'm afraid to walk to the dog alone, afraid for my fiance, Chloe, and our five-year-old son to be walking out with the dog. I am going to be losing a good easy £600 a month in income. My work HMP Hindley have been incredibly supportive. But it doesn't make me feel any safer."
The attack happened at about 5pm on March 17th. Hayley said: "I rang GMP right away they marked is as a hate crime. And five days later I am still waiting to hear from anybody from the police at all and I think it is disgusting and needs to be sorted." She says the attacker was white, 6ft 2in tall, skinny, with a local Salford accent, and in his mid 20s.
"It was pure hate because of who I am. He must have had a bad day. I have never met him before, and he reacted because I questioned his actions." said Hayley.
GMP has apologised for not seeing Hayley sooner, and she was being seen to today as they appreciate "the seriousness" of the incident. In a statement they said: "We were called at around 5.25pm on Thursday March 17th to a report of a woman being assaulted on Brookhouse Avenue, Eccles. No arrests have been made and enquires are ongoing, including today with the victim. Anyone with information should call us on 101 or report online, if able, quoting incident 2293 of 17/03/2022. Details can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."
