Philip Sexton, 54, has pleaded guilty to four charges of assault after his “unprovoked and nasty” public attack of a 22-year-old gay man, his boyfriend, and his mother as the families were celebrating the 22-year-old’s birthday in Leeds, U.K last month.
Sexton has been sentenced to 12 months of community service and 100 hours of unpaid work.
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In a surveillance video of the attack, Sexton punched the young man in the face outside of Gino D’Acampo, an Italian restaurant. He continued to attack the boyfriend and the mother when a waitress intervened.
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The waitress confronted Sexton to calm him down, but he then punched her in the face too. The waitress kicked back at Sexton in anger.
As she began walking back into the restaurant, Sexton came up from behind and pulled her hair back in an attempt to drag her to the ground. However, Sexton was stopped by a group of passers-by who intervened to stop further violence.
The waitress suffered a bruised nose and bloody face from his attack.
According to Sarah Liversidge, the mother, they were standing, talking, and smoking outside the restaurant before Sexton walked up, pushed Liversidge out of the way, and punched one of the gay men.
Liversidge’s husband ran outside when he heard his wife screaming.
He told Leeds Live, “It was completely unprovoked and nasty.” He added that the assault has “had a huge effect on all three victims” and mentioned that his family had never visited Leeds before.
“We were there to celebrate one of the boys’ birthdays and meet his parents for the first time,” Liversidge said. “What should have been a really happy event ended in violence and upset.”
Here is a video of the attack: