Spofforth man admits spitting blood at police officerHarrogate Town Council candidate at centre of historic homophobia row denies expulsion claimAndrew Jones responds to Tom Gordon’s ‘grave concerns’ in homophobia case‘I have changed’: Conservative candidate disavows homophobic viewsEditor’s Pick of the Week: Temperatures rise at Knaresborough business meetingPolice seek to identify man after homophobic chanting in Harrogate

North Yorkshire Police want to speak to a man in relation to alleged homophobic chanting in Harrogate.

Police today issued a CCTV image of the man they want to talk to.

A statement said officers were investigating a possible hate crime. It added:

“The incident happened on King’s Road in Harrogate near Bambino’s takeaway around 11.45pm on 28 May 2022.

“A group of men were reported to be singing a homophobic chant.”

The statement urged anyone with information to email geeta.maharjan@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101, select option 2 and ask for 0740.

Or, if you’d prefer to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 1222009231.

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Harrogate man’s homophobic abuse after England game

A gay man has spoken of his shock at hearing homophobic abuse in a shop in Harrogate after England beat Germany 2-0.

England captain Harry Kane wore a rainbow armband during Tuesday’s match to show support for LGBT+ people during Pride month.

But the following morning the man, who asked not to be named, was visiting a shop close to the centre of town and heard staff laughing about the armband and talking about how gay people were “disgusting and weird”.

This prompted the openly gay man to tell them to think before they speak.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“While they did not direct these comments at me, they were aimed at people like me in a way. I was shocked that they would say such things so freely.

“People just seem to be missing kindness. I just worry if this is how gay people are treated today what it will be like for the next generation.

“I am young and have not been out for a long time but I have already endured so much homophobic abuse, we need to talk about it.

“Just in Harrogate I get so many funny looks if I wear more feminine clothes. People have called me a f***** and a freak. It needs to stop.”

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He was not alone in suffering abuse after the England game. Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, was also abused in the town centre.

A woman told him she was “proud to be white and British because we’re better than people like you”.