'Gay attack' victim may lose eye

Victim was attacked as he walked along Clarendon Street

A man beaten in a suspected homophobic attack in Londonderry has been told he may lose the sight of one eye.

The 20-year-old, from County Donegal, was attacked by two men as he walked along Clarendon Street on Sunday.

He was punched on the face and knocked to the ground. He is now recovering in hospital. There have been a series of attacks on gay men in the city.

David McCartney from the Rainbow Project, a support group for the gay community, knows the victim well.

"He is a student in his early 20s," he said.

"He is a very quiet fella and is a decent bloke - he is well-liked.

"The fact is that this isn't the first time this has happened to him.

"This is the second major homophobic incident that he has experienced in the last couple of years.

"It is absolutely traumatising for him - I'm not even entirely sure that the shock has set in yet, that he has in fact lost the sight in one of his eyes."

SDLP leader Mark Durkan, the MP for the area, said it "was a savage assault on a completely innocent young man".

"This attack was fuelled by a sickening homophobia and must be met with vocal and outright rejection, both in Derry and throughout our wider society," Mr Durkan said.

PSNI Chief Inspector Milton Kerr said: "This is one of the worst I have seen. Obviously, this person will be affected for the rest of their life.

"The information that I have is that he has lost sight in one eye and is unlikely to regain it - which is a terrible infliction on that young fellow."