Gay couple ‘living in fear’ after men threw fruit and spat at them walking home

A gay couple have said they now ‘live in fear’ after a pair of thugs who spat on their legs were spared jail.

Alex Grant, 34 and his partner, 32 were assaulted while walking home following a swim at Hampstead Heath in north London on July 1 last year.

The couple were holding hands in Camden when they were approached by Mariuzs Smietana and Dariusz Wawrzenczyk, Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court heard.

The men, both from Poland,

Smietana continued to chase the pair, shouting in Polish ‘f**k off wh***s’ and ‘f***ing gays’.

Officers eventually arrested the two thugs after the couple dialed 999 from a nearby pub.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Grant said the attack had left him ‘shaken, restless, and unable to sleep’.

‘What had been a quiet summer’s evening spent enjoying the weather swimming with my boyfriend turned into a night full of fear and angst which lasted for many days afterwards’, he said.

His partner, who elected to remain anonymous, said he had moved to the UK from Turkey to live freely as a gay man and said the assault had left him worried for his safety.

Delivering his statement from behind a privacy curtain, he said: ‘Whenever we go somewhere, I find myself thinking about how we will get home, which route we should take, and whether it is safe for us to walk together openly.

‘I know these may sound like small considerations, but they have become part of my daily life, and I do not think a simple walk home with the person I love should evoke that kind of fear or calculation.’

Both Smietana and Wawrzenczyk, 37, denied charges of assault by beating.

Smietana was previously cautioned for shoplifting in 2015, while Wawrzenczyk had been extradited to Poland in 2023 in a non-conviction disposal for assaulting an emergency worker, the court was told.

The court also heard that Smietana had issues with alcohol use as well as difficulties following the loss of an unborn child and health issues relating to his partner.

District Judge Vanessa Lloyd, sentencing, said neither defendant had shown any remorse for their actions but acknowledged that the pair’s chance of reoffending was low.

She said: ‘I don’t think any amount of money can compensate for what happened to them last night.’

Both defendants were fined a total of £439 each, including £325 in court costs and a £114 surcharge.

They were also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

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