A “straight” carer stabbed a man 12 times, just after they had sex, and then fled down the street, naked and covered in blood. A UK Court called out the man’s homophobia and sentenced him to three years imprisonment.
Warning: This story has details of violent, homophobic assault and might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.
“I’m not fucking gay”, is what Stephen Taylor, a 24-year-old from Liverpool screamed at his victim while stabbing him 12 times with a knife, apparently as a reaction to being rejected when he asked the victim to perform a sex act.
The night of the homophobic attack had started innocently enough when the victim met his attacker for the first time at drinks at a friend’s house in June 2020.
Taylor, who introduced himself at the time as “Tyson”, said he worked at a nursing home. It was established during the evening that Taylor was “straight” and the victim mentioned to Taylor that he was gay.
The victim got a taxi home at the end of the night but was messaged by Taylor on Snapchat to say that he had left his phone charger behind. The victim then paid for a taxi to get Taylor and the phone charger to his apartment, after which Taylor went inside the victim’s home for a drink. ‘You’re Straight, I’m Gay’
Prosecutor Neil Bisarya, told the court that after drinking gin with the victim for a while, Taylor suddenly “leant over and grabbed his penis”. The victim protested, saying “bloody hell Tyson, what you doing?”, to which Taylor responded, “Don’t you want a bit of fun?”.
The victim replied with “you’re straight, I’m gay” and they laughed it off . But moments later Taylor kissed the victim, which was reciprocated.
The victim testified that he allowed Taylor to perform oral sex on him before they went upstairs to continue their hook-up. The encounter came to a halt when the victim refused to participate in a type of sex act that Taylor wanted, saying it “was not his thing”.
Things got quite hectic however when the pair ended up back downstairs to continue drinking. Taylor then requested the victim for a reciprocal blow job, which the victim declined. Enraged at the refusal, Taylor viciously twisted the victim’s penis and stabbing him 12 times. Homophobic Rage
“Mr Taylor was shouting, saying ‘I’m not fucking gay.’ Mr Taylor was in a rage,” the prosecutors said. “He was calling him a ‘fucking faggot’.”
“Let me call an ambulance, you don’t need to do this”, the victim pleaded with Taylor. But Taylor ignored him and shouted “homophobic” remarks at him, the prosecutor told the court.
The victim tried to flee naked from his apartment, only to be “rugby tackled” in the hallway by Taylor, also naked and covered in blood. The pair scuffled briefly and took a tumble down some stairs, before Taylor fled the scene and the victim called the police.
Taylor was picked up a short time later after the police responded to reports of a naked man running down the street. “I didn’t do it,” Taylor kept telling the police whilst being arrested for public indecency.