A 23-year-old man has been arrested and charged with assault following an incident during Birmingham Pride weekend. The man, whose name is Jack Dalton, has been charged with three counts of assault following disorder at a pub (which has not been identified by West Midlands Police) on Hurst Street, in the Gay Village, where three men, aged 30, 31 and 34, were assaulted. Their injuries are, thankfully, not believed to be serious or life-threatening.
Police were called to the pub at approximately 6pm on Friday 24th May where they were told that the man had assaulted several people inside the venue and had then fled the scene.
Police say they are treating the incident as a hate crime. In a statement, West Midlands Police said: "We will not tolerate hate crime in our city.
"People should be able to visit the city without fear of being subjected to violence and threats.
"Planning for Pride takes place months in advance and the focus is to provide a highly visible presence around the Pride site, to make people feel safe and to prevent crime.
"We take hate crime very seriously and would encourage people to come forward if they've experienced a hate crime.
"While we’d prefer victims to come to us directly, we know that for a variety of reasons, some people do not want to speak with officers preferring to report crimes anonymously or not at all."
Hate crimes can be reported to the police, via third-party reporting centres including the LGBT Centre and The Loft, Birmingham, or you can make a report easily online.
Two arrests were made across Pride weekend including Dalton (23) who was charged on Sunday 26th May. A further 35-year-old man was also arrested for assaulting a police officer, and was bailed pending further enquiries.
The 23-year-old was remanded in custody to appear before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday 27th May.
Superintendent Lisa Robson who was in charge of the policing plan, said: “Even though Sunday was hit with rain it didn't dampen the spirit of Pride.
"Our operation has seen different resources deployed, including community officers and firearms officers. The focus has been to provide a highly visible presence around the Pride site, to make people feel safe and to prevent crime."
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