Hull teenager ‘beaten black and blue’ in alleged homophobic attack

An 18-year-old woman has been “beaten black and blue” in an alleged homophobic attack in a street in Hull, her sister says.

Stevie-Leigh Ansell posted images on Facebook of her sister, Ellie-Mae Mulholland, showing her face covered in blood following the alleged assault on Thursday.

Humberside Police said it was investigating and it dealt with “all hate incidents and crimes thoroughly”.

Ms Ansell told the Hull Daily Mail that the teenager was attacked by two women she thought were her friends after confronting one of them over £10 she believed she was owed.

“They both beat her black and blue,” Ms Ansell told the newspaper.

“Because she is gay they called her a ‘f****** lesbian, you and your girlfriend are going to get it 10 times worse next time’.

“She thought they were her friends. All this happened while she was on the phone to her mum.”

In her Facebook post, Ms Ansell appealed for people to share the images of her sister’s injuries.

“I feel I cannot let this happen to my sister because she is gay. I just feel really helpless,” Ms Ansell told the Hull Daily Mail.

“It is not okay, regardless if she is gay or not, to do this to an 18-year-old. It is absolutely disgusting.”

Ms Ansell claimed the two alleged attackers had previously referred to her sister’s sexuality during arguments and had refused to share cigarettes with her “because they say they will get lesbian germs”.

She added that police have been informed of the names of the alleged suspects.

Humberside Police said it was aware of an incident on Swannage Walk in Hull “involving an alleged assault of an 18-year-old woman by two females”.

Detective Chief Inspector Ali Sweeting said: “The initial report we received was in relation to a common assault and we have since seen media reports that this was believed to have had a homophobic motive.

“We are in the early stages of our investigations and will be speaking to the victim and to other parties involved to establish the full circumstances of the incident.

“If it is established that there was a homophobic motive we will be treating this appropriately.

“We deal with all hate incidents and crimes thoroughly and do not expect the people of our communities to have to suffer from the intolerance of others.”

(c) Sky News 2019: Hull teenager ‘beaten black and blue’ in alleged homophobic attack