Taupo police are still in touch with two gay brothers who say they were attacked in Taupo on the 27th of December. Matt and Simon Adlam claim they were beaten up by a mob near Finn MacCuhals pub on Taupo's Tuwharetoa St, simply for being openly gay. The brothers say the police had been ‘inactive and deceitful' in dealing with the incident, and that the bar's bouncers stood by while the attack took place. “My brother came away with two broken ribs, a lot of cuts and grazes, and a hefty concussion, as indicated by partial memory loss, tachycardia, confusion, and dizzy spells,” said Matt Adlam last week. Senior Sergeant Tony Jeurissen of Taupo police says the Adlam brothers are now at home in Los Angeles, but the police are in touch with them to help resolve the case. He would give no further comment. Finn MacCuhal's pub Duty Manager Alan Lindon says pub management have seen security camera footage of the incident, worked with the police on the case, and are doing their own investigations. “Obviously the accusations made by the brothers against the pub were very strong. One of the guys said we had done nothing to help,” explains Lindon. “We close at three O'clock, and the fight happened just after that. Our security were on-site behind our gates at the time, but they actually came out after hearing something going on outside. “But when they got there, there was nothing happening - the two guys had gone off. Apparently they had driven home drunk. They returned at about 3.45am to come and see a manager here – still highly intoxicated – and one was attacked by about three or four guys while withdrawing money from the ATM. Things all went a bit wild from there. “The two guys got away, and the next morning went for the papers, came to see us, and then the police.” Lindon believes the motivation for the attack was simply because the guys were gay. “It's absolutely beyond me. There's just no need for it. “We're still keen to find out who they are, so we can get them banned.” Lindon assures GayNZ.com the Finn MacCuhals pub is a safe place for gay and lesbian people to meet. “We have gay and lesbian staff here too. “We've been trying to promote a very safe environment over the Christmas period. So for these guys to go straight to the papers and say that our staff didn't help at all - we were very annoyed.” Ref: GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 23rd January 2007 - 12:00pm