A teenager has described the terrifying moment he was attacked by a complete stranger in a vile homophobic attack.
Kydis Zellinger said he feared for his life as a screaming bus passenger rained blows down on him at about 11.45pm on Monday, October 15.
The 18-year-old has two black eyes and is now too terrified to leave his home in Bristol following the assault, which the police are treating as a hate crime.
Kydis said ten other passengers on the number 76 bus near Parsons Street did nothing to stop the man, who followed him upstairs and began abusing him before punching him repeatedly in the face.
The bus was running late when Kydis got on and asked the driver if the route or timetable had changed.
Kydis said: I could hear a man shouting at me as we were talking, he sounded quite drunk and was swearing and complaining about being held up and late getting home.
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I couldnt even see who it was, all I did was turn over my shoulder and said that I was just asking a question and would be done in a moment.
He was being quite intimidating by shouting, but I made a conscious effort to reply in a polite way and then we went upstairs as quickly as we could to get away from him.
Everything was quiet for a few stops until the man came upstairs and confronted him.
He said: He came towards me and I was just frozen, I couldnt move or speak but I remember everything he said.
He was shouting “you f*cking gay boy, you dont speak to me like that” and was asking me who I was.
At that point he just punched me really hard across the face.
He went to the back of the bus and continued to shout abuse at Kydis and his friend.
He said: He was shouting about how he had “taught me a lesson” and called me a “little gay queer” mocking me as I sat there frozen.
As Kydis attempted to leave the bus at the next stop, the violent passenger cornered him in his seat and began punching him in the back of his head.
I was completely trapped, he said.
The attack only stopped when the mans partner managed to drag him away from Kydis and they ran off the bus.
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The driver stopped the bus to call the police, as other passengers came to Kydis aid as he struggled to understand what he had just been through.
He added: Kydis said: If she hadnt of been there I have no doubt that he could have killed me, it was like he just lost all sense of where he was and went for me.
Kydis met with police officers on Tuesday to give statements about the attack, and enquiries are ongoing.
South Bristol Neighbourhood Inspector Paul Bolton-Jones said: This was a nasty and unprovoked attack on the victim.
Id urge anyone with information to call us on 101 and quote reference 5218231228.
Bristol is a tolerant and diverse city and theres no place for hate crime here. We want victims of hate crime to know that were here to support them.
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