UK homosexual who claimed his face was beat in during ‘homophobic’ attack now admits he fell
PRESTON, Lancashire, March 14, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An 18-year-old homosexual student, whose Facebook postings showing photos of injuries he alleged were the result of a "homophobic attack" went viral, has confessed that his account of the cause of the injuries was not true.
Richard Kennedy, who studies acting at the University of Central Lancashire, admitted the whole thing was false after police confronted him with closed-circuit television video showing him falling face-first onto the pavement after leaving the Evoque homosexual nightclub shortly after 3:30am on February 26.
Richard Kennedy
In his attempt to portray the incident as an "utterly inhumane homophobic attack" on Facebook, Kennedy wrote beneath photos of his injuries, "Here is my face after a homophobic attack: four of my teeth are gone, not fallen out but deep inside my gums and cheek... my face is swollen, both my knees are badly injured and I struggle to walk...All of this and what was their motive? Because of my f****** sexuality."
Kennedy went so far as to repeat his story to a local newspaper. "I heard a group of men shouting homophobic abuse at me," he told the Blackpool Gazette.
"The next thing I know I was punched in the back of the head. I was violently assaulted all because of my sexuality,” he said. “I was covered in blood and had my face stomped on causing my teeth to go into my gums. I might need surgery to amend the damage done. It’s absolutely disgraceful to violently attack someone because of who they are.”
"From all of this, all I want is awareness, that we need to stop ignoring attacks like these. … Also I want people to use me as an example," Kennedy told the newspaper.
Police launched an investigation after a report came to them that the young man was seen bleeding and lurching around near the nightclub. They asked for witnesses to come forward. However, investigators discovered the truth after they reviewed security camera videos showing Kennedy tripping and falling on his face.
According to the Daily Mail, police said Kennedy will not face any consequences for the deception and for wasting police time. A spokesman said the police were convinced Kennedy actually believed he had been assaulted when he reported the incident to them.
Detective Inspector Paddy O’Neill told the Daily Mail, "We managed to recover some CCTV footage which shows the injured party falling face-first onto the pavement. We have showed him the CCTV and he now accepts his injuries were caused during the fall.”
"Having had oversight of the investigation ... I accept his report was made in good faith," O’Neill said.
The incident is similar to the August 2012 story of a homosexual in Montana, Joseph Baken, who said three men beat him and called him slurs as he was celebrating his 22nd birthday.
Baken's allegations went viral on Facebook and his tale of abuse became a national issue. However, he was charged and found guilty of filing a false police report when a video surfaced of him doing a backflip and smacking his face on the pavement.
