A teenager who lured a gay man to a park to ambush him has been jailed for seven years.
Adam Ayres (18) wept in the dock as he was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court yesterday.
The 50-year-old victim, who thought he was meeting another gay man after being contacted through an on-line chatroom, was knocked to the ground and repeatedly beaten with bats by Ayres and three other men.
He was left with a fractured skull and bruising to his brain.
Speaking after the sentencing, the victim encouraged other victims of hate crime to come forward.
He said: "Having been in the situation, I understand that contacting police and confronting those responsible in court is extremely daunting, but all those involved in this investigation did their utmost to make it as easy as possible.
"I would encourage anyone who has been the victim of a hate crime to come forward and get justice for themselves."
The victim, who was contacted by one of the assailants via a website for gay men, turned up for a pre-arranged meeting at the park near Holts Close, Burbage.
He was then ambushed by Ayres and three accomplices, two of whom were wielding bats.
During the attack, the victim was told, "you won't be meeting gay guys again".
The court heard that afterwards, Ayres made comments "characterised by amusement and bravado" about the attack on his Facebook account.
Ayres, of Watling Street, Burbage, was convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm following a trial last month.
He had denied the charge, saying he did not organise the rendezvous and was "tricked" into going along with the ruse.
Ayres also insisted he was unaware two of the group were carrying weapons on the night of the attack in March last year.
Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Sylvia De Bertodano said it did not matter whether or not Ayres had been one of the gang who used a bat to attack the man.
She said he would have received eight years in jail if he had been an adult at the time of the offence.
She said: "A plan was made over a number of days to attack a man you did not know apparently because you didn't like his sexual orientation.
"You lay in wait for him after dark and attacked him with baseball bats and fractured his skull.
"You had a good education and a good upbringing and, before this, had a great deal going for you.
"Why you took it upon yourself to offend in this way, only you can know.
"It's lucky the harm you caused wasn't greater than it was."
Andrew Tucker, in mitigation, said Ayres had been trying to assert his masculinity and was not a threat to others, being only 5ft 5in tall and weighing nine stone. He said Ayres was not homophobic.
He said: "Unfortunately, in the way that some lads do, being part of a group led him into a type of behaviour he would never otherwise have dreamt of.
"He was immature and lacked understanding. He is a boy who has the capacity to feel sorrow for others and for what he has done."
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