Cops 'ignore' gay-hate crime

[Kiwi]

GAY-HATE crimes are on the rise in Sydney, with community leaders warning violence may spiral out of control in the lead-up to the 30th year of Mardi Gras.

 The AIDS Council Of NSW (ACON) said it had received 22 reports of homophobic violence in the past six weeks alone, compared with 30 over the previous five months.

"If you look at the rate, it's basically doubled since about November,'' Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project co-ordinator Carl Harris said.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the council will lodge a formal complaint with the NSW Ombudsman against Surry Hills police for allegedly failing to protect the gay community.

The move is a response to the brutal and unsolved bashing of Redfern couple Craig and Shane on Crown St, Surry Hills, on December 3.

The attack on Craig, 27, was so vicious that it left him with a broken leg and doctors described his shattered jaw as "powder''.

While police were quick to attend the crime scene, the couple feel their case was not taken seriously.

"We felt like we were doing the investigation and they were giving us excuses,'' Craig said.

Surry Hills Crime Manager, Detective Inspector David Egan-Lee, denied the case was not being properly investigated, but conceded relations between the station and the gay community had deteriorated.

"We're constantly told by ACON that the situation is worse than what we think,'' Insp Egan-Lee said.

"We're not trying to hide the figures, we would like to know what the real situation is as well.''
ACON chief executive officer Stevie Clayton said police data did not support the council's claims of increasing violence because such attacks were often filed as alcohol-related assaults.

"Police at Surry Hills do not encourage people to report homophobic violence as a hate crime and they sometimes fail to properly record such incidents as hate crime.

"We need police to ask people: 'Do you think this crime is related to your sexuality?'''

The bashing incident prompted Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore to write to NSW Police Minister David Campbell for the second time in a month demanding police take more action.

ACON is calling for submissions from the victims or witnesses of homophobic violence to  be included in its complaint to the NSW Ombudsman. Contact ACON's Anti-Violence Project on (02) 9206 2116 or email [email protected].