A Liverpool university student was left bruised and bloodied in a homophobic attack.
Aodhan Benson was attacked by a group of men who had directed anti-LGBT slurs at him in Bold Street during the early hours of Saturday morning.
He suffered a busted lip, black eye, swollen nose and a cut above his eye in the assault and was taken to hospital for treatment following the ordeal.
Merseyside Police have since confirmed that two men have been arrested in connection with the hate crime incident on suspicion of Section 47 Assault.
A 43-year-old from Liverpool was detained along with a 33-year-old from Sefton, who was also arrested on suspicion of possessing a Class A drug.
They remain in custody for questioning by detectives.
Chief Inspector Col Rooney said: “This was an appalling incident which left a young man shaken and injured.
“Although we have made arrests, our investigations into the attack will continue.
“As well as physical violence, we believe that homophobic slurs were directed at the victim and we are treating the attack as a hate crime.
“This type of behaviour brings shame on our city, and it has rightly outraged many people.
“We share this anger – targeting anyone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity has no place whatsoever on Merseyside.
“High visibility officers are out tonight in Liverpool’s Pride Quarter and beyond, and they will continue to patrol over the coming days and weeks.
“After a number of worrying incidents over the last month, we want our LGBT+ community to be reassured that we stand with them.
“We are committed to protecting them, and we will do whatever we can to bring offenders to justice.
“I would take this opportunity to urge any victim of homophobic, biphobic or transphobic hate crime on Merseyside to please come forward and let us know.
“We have a team of specialist officers who will offer support as sensitively as possible.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Merseyside Police’s social media desk on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ with reference 21000479926.
You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form.
If, for any reason, you do not wish to the report to the police, the independent charity Stop Hate UK to run a 24/7 confidential helpline for all victims of hate crime on 0800 138 1625 or www.stophateuk.org.
You can also download the Stop Hate UK reporting app on Google Play or the Apple App Store.