Warning: This article contains distressing content.
A group of ‘’evil’' young men whose eyes were ‘’glowing with hatred’' attacked a gay man, called him a ‘’paedophile’' and filmed it after luring him to a Tauranga house using a fake profile on the dating app Grindr.
The ‘’humiliated’' victim says it was a “hate crime” and begged for them to stop as members of the group taunted, abused, threatened and assaulted him - including one swinging a piece of wood at him and another threatening to throw bottles at him.
One of the group - Ryan William Purves, 18, of Tauranga - repeatedly kicked the victim and when police arrived, stood in front of a female constable with clenched fists and told her: ‘’I will f***ing punch you in the face b***h’‘.
He later failed to attend a restorative justice meeting.
Purves this week appeared in Tauranga District Court after pleading guilty to assault and assaulting police - he was sentenced to community work and supervision.
The victim, who has permanent name suppression, said in his victim impact statement it was a “hate crime” and he feared he would die. He still had nightmares and panic attacks.
He was “lured, ambushed, attacked, abused and threatened” - something he would never forget.
“I was surrounded by ... strangers in the dark, not knowing their intentions. I really thought I was going to die because this was a strategic ambush, assault and an attack ... all whilst being recorded on cellphones by a few of the offenders, whilst I was begging for this to stop,” he said.
“I will never forget their faces, although it was dark I could see and feel the evil in their eyes glowing with hatred.”
The victim felt “humiliated and terrified” and would be “scarred for life” and held a lot of hatred for those responsible for the “cowardly attack”.
“I know this was a hate crime as I was targeted due to my inclusion in the gay community, and was purposely ambushed through the well-known Grindr app platform for the gay community to meet up.”
The victim said he had been prescribed sleeping pills and depression medication and was having flashbacks, panic attacks and nightmares.
The fact they filmed it and the possibility that a video recording of the attack still exists ‘’will hang over my head for the rest of my life”.
Police said the group had been drinking alcohol and created a false profile for an 18-year-old male on Grindr, which is predominantly used to meet gay men.
The victim was also using the app and there was a match.
One of Purves’ co-offenders invited the victim to meet at a Tauranga address.
When the victim arrived, he was met at the end of the driveway by a male he believed to be the person he was communicating with.
The male told him no one else was home and invited him inside. The victim followed him, but Purves and others in his group surrounded him and recorded him on their phones.
Purves and the other young men yelled at the victim and called him a derogatory name for a gay person.
They accused him of “trying to hook up with a 15-year-old boy”, saying: ”We’ve caught ourselves a paedophile" - despite the fake profile on Grinder being for an 18-year-old.
The victim called 111 but could not hear the call-taker due to Purves and the others yelling abuse.
Purves kicked the victim’s right leg below the knee and kicked him again as he walked down the driveway.
The group continued to taunt and yell abuse at the victim as he tried to escape.
One offender pushed the victim, making him stumble, and made an obscene bodily gesture, then swung a piece of timber towards him, missing him.
As the victim tried to get into his car, the males surrounded him again and Purves kicked him.
Another offender held empty beer bottles in each hand and threatened to throw them at the victim.
Police said all of this was recorded on phones and when police arrived, Purves stood in front of a female constable with clenched fists and told her: ‘’I will f***ing punch you in the face, b***h’.
Sergeant Sean Brennan asked Judge Paul Geoghegan to consider the assault against the male victim a hate crime under the Sentencing Act 2022.
Purves’ lawyer, Rynae Butler, urged Judge Geoghegan to impose supervision and community detention instead of the pre-sentence report recommendation of supervision and community work because of her client’s work commitments.
Butler said Purves had been stood down from work as he needed a limited licence due to a recent drink-driving conviction and that matter would be decided in the next few weeks.
Purves could do community work but taking more time off work was likely to “add some strain” to his employment relationship with his boss.
She said it was acknowledged the attack was “serious in nature” and the victim’s vulnerability was significant as there were multiple offenders.
Purves had told her that he did not remember much as he was “very intoxicated” and only learned from the others about using Grindr to find the victim minutes before he arrived.
“I am submitting that there is a limited degree of premeditation for Mr Purves’ role in this matter.”
Butler said she also disputed this was a hate crime in respect of her client’s offending and that his actions were not motivated by hostility and harm towards the gay community.
Purves took “full responsibility” for his actions and instructed her that what was foremost in his mind was his thought that this was “a legitimate way to use violence on someone who he had perceived was criminal offending”.
She said her client did not attend a restorative justice meeting because his phone was damaged and then lost.
“Mr Purves is remorseful for what has happened to the victim and for the victim’s disappointment understandably for not turning up for the meeting.”
Purves had “good rehabilitative prospects” and she urged the judge to also take into account her client’s age, long-standing drinking issues, early guilty pleas, and the positive aspects outlined in the pre-sentence report.
Judge Geoghegan said the attack was ‘’despicable”.
Part of the Sentencing Act refers to an ‘‘aggravating feature of offending as being when the offender committed the offence partly or wholly because of hostility towards a group of persons who had “an enduring common characteristic” such as race, colour, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability, and the hostility is because of the common characteristic, and the offender believed the victim had that characteristic”.
The judge said there was “no doubt” Purves and his friends intended to lure someone in the gay community to the property to humiliate, abuse and assault them.
“I am unsure whether it was motivated purely by hostility because you are a group of young men who had been drinking, but whatever possessed you to engage in this sort of act is just beyond me.”
He said the victim described Purves as “evil” but he did not see him that way.
“But I see you as a young man ... who made a terrible decision that night and didn’t have the strength of character to stand up to those you were with and say, ‘No, we should not do this’.”
He said Purves’ return to work when he had a limited licence was a positive factor and noted he was assessed at low risk of reoffending.
“But disturbingly, the [pre-sentence] report stated that Purves had few insights around his offending and he reported having little memory regarding specific details. That may well be the case but I’m not sure.
“Due to seeing numerous social media videos of people dealing out vigilante justice, you refer to the report writer that it sounded exciting.
“And if anything this is a message to you and young people like you or others interested in using social media in this way that there will be a consequence.”
The assault charge carried a maximum penalty of a year in prison and the assault on police charge six months in prison. The judge sentenced Purves to 120 hours of community work and 12 months of supervision.
Two accused co-offenders remain before the district court.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
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