Sydney Teen Reported A Homophobic Attack – So Police Charged Him!
Ben West was 18 when he walked into Penrith Plaza to buy a Mother’s Day gift. What happened next wasn’t just unexpected, it was unjust.
As West was shopping, a man he recognised shouted a homophobic slur at him. West tried to leave, but the man followed and punched him in the head. West reacted instinctively, kicking back as he was struck again and again. The two ended up on the ground.
“I said no, I got punched, I couldn’t move… there was nowhere to run,” West told 9News.
Instead of receiving support, West was later charged with affray. This week, the case was dismissed in Penrith Local Court, and his legal costs were awarded. The reason? The police never contacted a single witness. They relied solely on CCTV footage and charged him without a full investigation.
A Magistrate Calls It Out
Magistrate Marguerite Vassall didn’t hold back. She said the CCTV might show a fight, but West’s actions were “arguably consistent with self-defence.” She called out the “unreasonable failure to investigate” and said more should have been done before laying charges.
The Real Cost of Speaking Up
West went to the police station with his mum to report a hate crime. Instead of protection, he was treated like a criminal. “He had the courage to go to police and seek assistance,” his lawyer Osman Samin said. “Instead of helping him, police charged him with a really serious criminal offence.”
His mother, Narelle, stood by him the whole time.
“He’s such a good kid and to be treated like a criminal when he’s done absolutely nothing wrong… I’m so proud of him,” she told 9News.
This wasn’t just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It raises real questions about how reports of violence, especially when tied to identity, are handled.
How many others have been afraid to speak up after being attacked because of who they are?
West hopes his story encourages others not to stay silent. “If we speak up and we don’t let the bullies win, then you can’t be stopped,” he said.
