Two 16-year-olds have been arrested after a teenager was made to apologise for being gay during a London Underground attack.

The pair were taken into custody on Tuesday on suspicion of assault.

The 19-year-old victim had been on a westbound Jubilee line train between West Ham and North Greenwich on 21 October at around 11.10am.

He and his friends were wearing fancy dress for an event they were attending when two youths got on the train at West Ham and approached them.

The first assailant pulled the victim from his seat into a headlock, strangling him.


The second male took the victim's phone and verbally abused him again, also threatening to stab him.

They demanded the victim apologise for being gay, which he eventually did, as he was struggling to breathe.

The two males then let him go, returning his phone.

A fight then broke out between the victim's friends and the offenders, leaving a 25-year-old woman with bruising after she was punched and pushed to the ground.

The teenager was not injured.

The youths left the train at North Greenwich.

Police had described the incident as a hate crime.

In a previous statement they said: "We won't tolerate behaviour where someone is targeted because they are perceived to be different, or made to feel uncomfortable on their journey."