Preston Police have sent out an appeal for information after a possible homophobic incident in the city.

Early on Wednesday 26 February, 18 year old Richard Kennedy from Blackpool was approached from behind by somebody who made homophobic comments before assaulting him.

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The teenager suffered serious cuts and bruises to his face as well as injuries to his chest, teeth and knee.

Unfortunately, he cannot recall where he was assaulted. It is believed he walked around the city centre in a confused and distressed state for some time after the incident.

Police need to speak with witnesses to the assault or seen the victim after the assault as he would have been noticeable, due to the injury to his face.

Detective Sergeant Martin Pearson said: “This was a particularly nasty assault, aggravated by the homophobic comments which were made before Richard was attacked. Whilst we are keeping an open mind, we do believe he may have been targeted because he is gay.

“It is completely unacceptable in any society for someone to suffer this type of attack motivated by prejudice. We need to establish exactly what happened to this young man and ensure that nobody else suffers in the same way.

“We know Richard left the Evoque nightclub on Church Street sometime after 1am and was found by friends in the Ringway area around 4am. We are continuing with CCTV enquiries and would like anybody with any information to contact us quoting log reference 0844. The victim is being supported by the police LGBT liaison officer.”

If you have information contact the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or on-line at Crimestoppers-uk.org.

No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

Always ring 999 in an emergency.