2 Men Allegedly Beat UK Lesbian Unconscious

A woman from the United Kingdom says she was attacked and beaten unconscious by two men last month because she is lesbian, the British newspaper the Mirror reports.

Kerry Byrnes, a 23-year-old worker for British supermarket Tesco, says she was hit a number of times on the head while she walked home in Oakham, Leicestershire, early morning. The attackers harassed her for being gay before physically assaulting her.

Byrnes says the attackers said they recognized her from the supermarket and knew she was lesbian.

Since the attack, Byrnes admitted to the Mirror that she is afraid to leave her home and is hoping to track down the witnesses who can possibly identify the men who attacked her.

"I just want these lads to be caught before they do this or something worse to someone else," she told the publication.

Byrnes says she was walking home around 1:30 a.m. July 17 when two white men in their 20s started to follow her.

"We'd gone out for the evening I was just walking home like I always do," she told the Mirror. "I turned around and saw two lads walking behind me but I really didn't think anything of it. But then I heard one of them say: 'That's the one that works on Fruit and Veg in Tesco, that's the lesbian.'"

She added: "And then the punch came out of nowhere and I hit the floor. They just started hitting me in the head and I lost consciousness. I don't know how long I was out for, it must have been about 15 minutes. It's all a bit of a blur, so I don't remember very much about it."

She told the newspaper she remembers she went home and her roommate called the police as soon as she saw her. Doctors told Byrnes that she may have had a slight fracture to her cheek.

"It was horrible and I don't know how long I was unconscious for or how I managed to get home. I haven't left the house since it happened - I'm too scared to go out," she said. "Even the police think that it was motivated by my sexuality, but they don't have any leads as far as I know."

Byrnes says others have never had problems with her sexuality and that she's "never suffered homophobic bullying like this."

"I've no idea who they are, I really get on with everyone here. I was just a couple of minutes from my house and that's one of the scariest things," she said.

Pc Mark Barlow, of Rutland police, called the incident a "nasty assault" and confirmed that Byrnes received hospital treatment. He added that the attackers were both white and in their 20s and stood about 5'7" and that one of the men wore a hoodie and the other had spiky blond hair.