Mawhinney took this picture after the assault A man who assaulted Ivy Bar manager Steven Mawhinney is due to be sentenced at Wellington District Court today. Adrian Sherman, 23, has admitted assaulting Mawhinney at the Wellington gay bar on August 22 last year. Mawhinney says a group of men came into the venue, and argued with customers, using homophobic slurs, when they realised it was a gay bar. The bar manager says he was assaulted when he stepped in as one of the men “went to go at” one of his customers, and says he received “seven to eight good belts to the head”. “To be honest, I’m 30 now and I’ve been out since I was 17. This is the worst thing I have seen in my life. The hatred. That’s the only way I could describe the way these guys were. They had pure hatred for anyone that they presumed to be gay.” The Dominion Post reports Sherman’s lawyer has said he is remorseful and while he was not trying to justify his actions, the main instigator had been the other man.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 25th March 2015 - 11:09am