Gay couple fear holding hands in public after hammer attack in Radcliffe
A gay couple who were attacked and mugged by a gang of men in Radcliffe say they fear they will never be able to hold hands in public again.Ryan Winnard, 21, and his boyfriend Max Green, 18, were punched and hit with a hammer as they walked home from a family member's house at around 8:15pm on 23 November.Hurling homophobic slurs at the couple as they held hands, the group of five to six men wearing balaclavas viciously attacked the pair on Coronation Road.Ryan, from Salford, suffered a broken nose and a fractured cheek bone, and Max suffered a deep cut to his head.
He said: “We carried on walking as we had no intention of starting any confrontation with them. They started attacking us, punching and kicking us, and were hitting me in the knees with a hammer.”
Ryan said: “I can remember hearing them telling Max to empty his pockets and to give them everything he had, they then all came to me and beat me up for my Canada Goose coat.
“They then took my phone, bag, shoes, bank cards, keys - all of my belongings."
The couple now feel that they will not be able to hold hands in public again.Ryan said: “I don’t think I’ll ever, ever walk around Radcliffe again. I don’t think I'll ever be able to hold my partner’s hand in the street again.“I should be able to walk around and hold my boyfriend’s hand without fear of something like this happening.
“It’s one of those things that you never think would ever happen to you but now it has.”Ryan shared the details on social media and said he was ‘overwhelmed’ with the response.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed they received reports of a robbery on Coronation Road, Radcliffe.
A force spokesperson said: “Enquiries established that a group of around five to six people, wearing balaclavas, approached two males before assaulting them and stealing property from them including a phone.“The men were also subject to verbal abuse from the group. No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.”Anyone with information should contact police via www.gmp.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident 2795 of 23/11/21.