Sussex Police are appealing for information after a gay couple were violently attacked in Brighton.

Graham Munday, 42, and his partner Tony Minion, 52, were kicked and punched in the head by five youths as they walked hand in hand through the city in the early hours of Saturday morning (15 December).

The couple were making their way back to their flat in Grove Hill, Brighton, after a night out in Kemp Town, an area that’s home to most of Brighton’s LGBT venues.

Speaking to the Argus newspaper, Mr Munday, who was subjected to a similar homophobic attack ten years ago, said:

“It was horrible. You don’t expect that kind of thing to happen any more, especially in Brighton.

“It’s been nearly ten years since I was first attacked and I thought that things had changed.

“I’m just devastated.”

Mr Munday, whose voice was trembling in the newspaper interview, said: “They started shouting homophobic abuse at us.

“Then they started punching.

“It was just terrifying, there was nothing we could do.”

His partner, Mr Minion added: “There were too many of them and they just knocked me to the floor.

“I couldn’t get up and then they started kicking me in the back and the head.

“There was a group of people nearby who just stood there and did nothing, that’s the worst thing about it.”

Police are investigating the incident and anyone who witnessed the attack or has any information should contact them on 101.

In October, the chairman of Brighton and Hove’s LGBT Community Safety Forum said Kemptown was no longer a safe place for residents and businesses.

At the time, Chris Cooke said: “Not a week goes by without a serious incident”.