NSW Police Charge Man Over Alleged Homophobic Hate Crime in Darlinghurst

A 24-year-old man has been charged with an alleged homophobic hate crime after an incident between three men in Darlinghurst last night (Sunday November 24).

At around 11:30pm on Palmer Street in Darlinghurst, two men aged 34 and 31 were reportedly walking along Palmer Street, Darlinghurst, when they were approached by another man not known to them.

NSW Police allege that the older man was threatened before he and the other man left the scene. Police also report that thankfully, no one was injured.

After this, the unknown man is alleged to have driven back and forth past the pair on ‘several occasions’, and said a number of ‘offensive comments of a homophobic nature’ were made to the two men.

After the two men contacted the police, officers from Kings Cross Police Area Command stopped the vehicle that was yelling the homophobic comments near Bourke Street. Two men were in the vehicle — the driver was arrested and taken to Kings Cross Police Station, and the passenger was released.

At Kings Cross Police Area Command, the man was charged with stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm (personal) and common assault.

He has been granted conditional bail, and will be appearing to face the charges at Downing Centre Local Court on 10 December.

Is there a homophobic hate crime boom across Australia?

In the last handful of months, police all around the country have reported a variety of alleged homophobic hate crimes and attacks of gay men.

Victoria Police made 13 arrests after an investigation into gay men being catfished on Grindr, and lured to locations where they then experienced assaults.

ACT Policing reported last month that they intensified their investigation into the alleged homophobic assaults of three men in Canberra, all of whom were targeted through the dating app Grindr in a similar catfishing scheme.

Almost identical attacks occurred in Perth too, where multiple teenage boys after a series of alleged homophobic aggravated assaults and robberies of gay men. WA Premier called the crimes “insidious” and “sickening”.