Three teenage boys have admitted making homophobic threats towards two women on a bus after they refused to perform a sex act.
Melania Geymonat, 28, and her girlfriend Christine Hannigan were on the upper deck of a double-decker night bus in Camden, north London, when they were confronted by the youths in the early hours of May 30.
Writing in a Facebook post, accompanied by a picture of the couple looking bloodied and distressed, Ryanair flight attendant Geymonat described how the group targeted them after spotting them kiss.
She wrote: “They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us ‘lesbians’ and describing sexual positions.
“I don’t remember the whole episode, but the word ‘scissors’ stuck in my mind. It was only them and us there. In an attempt to calm things down, I started making jokes. I thought this might make them go away.
“Chris even pretended she was sick, but they kept on harassing us, throwing coins and becoming more enthusiastic about it.”
In the aftermath of the incident, London mayor Sadiq Khan joined appeals for witnesses, branding it “disgusting and misogynistic”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned it as “absolutely shocking”. He said: “Solidarity to Melania and Chris, and to all in the LGBT+ community for everything they endure for simply being who they are.”
The teenagers, aged 15, 16 and 17, appeared in court on Thursday after previously denying charges of harassment by using threatening or abusive words or behaviour.
Highbury Corner Youth Court previously heard the two women were surrounded by the boys, hit with coins and subjected to sexual gestures after they refused to perform a sex act.
Geymonat and Hannigan were both taken to hospital with facial injuries after the incident.
Before the trial on Thursday, which was expected to last two days, all the teenagers – who cannot be named due to their ages – admitted the public order offences.
Prosecutor Saira Khan told the court the teenagers each played different roles during the nine-minute incident.
Charges were dropped on Thursday against a 17-year-old.
According to Stonewall, one in five LGBT people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their sexual orientation and/ or gender identity in the last 12 months, with four in five of those going unreported.