Homophobic attack at St John's
A first-year St. John's student was the victim of a homophobic assault at the college on Saturday night, the Oxford Student has learned. The attack, which was both physical and verbal, took place at 12.45am on Sunday, following a heated disagreement with the porters over entry of three friends from another college to the bop.
Having been refused entry, the St John's student entered the college alone via a side entrance in an attempt to apologise to the porters for the disagreement. However, a fourth-year arrived on the scene and started to make aggressive and homophobic comments to the student. In full view of the porters, the verbal exchange escalated into a physical assault when the fourth-year punched the fresher in the face. It was at this point that the latter contacted the police.
The fourth-year involved denied carrying out the assault, although OxStu sources suggest that it had been witnessed by at least five people. The first-year who was assaulted has also decided not to press charges. Thames Valley Police have therefore closed their inquiries, but have logged the attack as 'a homophobic incident'. St John's Lodge, however, have denied that anything "at all untoward occurred on Saturday night."
Phillip Thompson, Vice-President of St. John's JCR, told The Oxford Student that the JCR acknowledged the attack took place, and condemned such violence. He added that the incident was "an affront to the JCR's commitment to the fostering of a community in which students can be free from fear of discrimination."
31st Jan 2002