A thug smashed a glass into a man's face outside a pub in an attack being treated as a hate crime because of the victim's gender identity, police have said. He was taken to hospital with what police described as serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries to his face.
A 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and remained in custody for questioning on Monday morning. Police chiefs said the victim believes the assault in Tranmere, Merseyside, in the early hours of Monday was motivated by his gender identity.
In a statement, Merseyside Police said: "At around 1am on Sunday, May 1, we received a report that a man had been assaulted outside the Prenton Park pub on Borough Road. It was reported that the victim was struck to the face with a glass by an unknown man.
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"It was further reported that the suspect made off on foot and ran into a bus stop, injuring himself. Officers attended and arrested 23-year-old man from Oxton on suspicion of section 18 assault. He was taken into custody and is being questioned by police.
"The victim attended hospital for serious but non-life-threatening injuries to his face. Police are treating this incident as a hate crime, as the victim believes the assault was motivated by his gender identity."
CCTV, forensic and witness enquiries were being carried out today and police are appealing for witnesses. Detective Inspector John Holden said: "This was an utterly appalling, unprovoked attack, which police are treating as a hate crime.
"It is completely abhorrent to think that someone could be subject to such physical abuse simply because of their gender identity. Merseyside Police stands against hate crime perpetrated against LGBT+ people and we simply will not tolerate people being targeted in this way.
"Although we have made one arrest, our enquiries remain ongoing. If you were in the Tranmere area on Saturday night or the early hours of Sunday morning then please let us know as information you hold could be vital to our enquiries."
