Birmingham man viciously “bashed” with wine bottle in homophobic attack

A 38-year-old man has been brutally attacked in Birmingham’s Gay Village for holding hands with another man.

On October 10, John-Paul Kesseler was struck with a bottle across the head whilst walking to a hotel with a male friend.

The pair were suddenly approached by a man who was standing outside of his car who addressed Kesseler. The unknown man aggressively said they shouldn’t be holding hands.

“He said we shouldn’t be holding hands,” Kesseler told Birmingham Live, “and I said, ‘What’s the problem?’”

The 38-year-old recalled seeing the man grab a bottle and follow him before he was attacked: “I didn’t notice him coming and the next thing I knew, I felt bashed round my head. I felt I was bleeding, I could feel blood dripping down my clothes. I was a bit dazed.”

Kesseler went ahead to call the police, according to Birmingham Live, with the attacker then returning to his car to retrieve an iron bar.

According to LGBTQ+ Nation, the iron bar was then used to strike Kesseler. The assailant fled the scene quickly after.

Bottle round my fucking head for holding another man's hand. Fuck the fuck off. pic.twitter.com/QYCMY6kBtK

— JP (@jpkesseler) October 10, 2021

“Bottle round my f*cking head for holding another man’s hand. F*ck the f*ck off,” Kesseler posted immediately after the attack.

He followed up in another tweet, expressing fear and frustration following the hate crime: “God f*cking damn. I am so angry right now. Just outside of the gay scene, our supposed safe space, these cretins feel emboldened enough to do this.”

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