The May 30 attack in London shocked the world for its brutality. Now four teenagers between ages 15 and 18 have been arrested for what appears to be a hate crime against a lesbian couple. In a photo taken by one of the victims, Melania Geymonat, the couple are shown bloodied and shocked after suffering a brutal assault.

“They started beating me, I was bleeding all over – I was really bleeding”



Melania Geymonat tells @BBCMarkMardell on #BBCwato about how she and her girlfriend were attacked after a group of men demanded they kiss. pic.twitter.com/E3kRVLxQtA — The World at One (@BBCWorldatOne) June 7, 2019

The story became global news following widespread publication of that photo by the BBC on Friday. Still, it is welcome news that the police have arrested four suspects. And it is right that more resources were probably afforded to that investigation than others.

This incident is shocking for the capricious nature of what apparently motivated it: hate of two young ladies because they are gay. For a city that is heavily reliant on tourism for revenue generation and economic prosperity, this incident could not stand without investigation. Were the suspects to remain undetected, the attack might deter gay tourists from visiting in the future. In turn, London's Metropolitan Police would have diverted significant investigative resources into tracking down those who carried out this attack. That likely entailed assigning officers to review CCTV footage, to track the bus passes used, and to trace the goods that were stolen from the two ladies. Specialist detectives in anti-hate units would also have been allocated to the task.

Fortunately, it seems the police are confident they have found the culprits. They are under suspicion of aggravated grievous bodily harm. That means the police are confident that the couples' sexual orientation was a decisive factor in motivating the assault and that the couple suffered significant physical harm by it. Putting my English law school hat on, the nature of the injuries and the motive would appear to indicate a Category 2 sentencing guideline under English law. I would thus assume that, if charged and found guilty, at least some of the gang responsible will face more than a year in prison or a youth offenders institution.

Hopefully that sentence will discourage at least some others from carrying out a similar attack in the future.