Gay man beaten, burned alive in Scotland

Gay man beaten, burned alive in Scotland

A gay man in Scotland has been killed and left at the side of the road with horrific injuries in what local media are calling a possible homophobic attack.

28-year-old Stuart Walker (pictured) was beaten, tied to a lamp-post and set on fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.

His charred remains were found by a member of the public at 5am on Saturday in Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland reports the UK’s Mail Online.

Local police confirmed the body had scorch marks and that the victim had suffered horrific injuries. They would not rule out that Walker had been murdered because of his sexuality.

He had been out with friends in the area and was last seen alive about two hours before his death.

Hate crimes against the gay community in Scotland have risen almost fivefold in the past five years, statistics revealed earlier this year.

A freedom of information request to Scotland’s eight police forces showed a disturbing rise in reports of violent attacks, indecent assaults, abuse and vandalism against people targeted just because of their sexual orientation.

There were 666 incidents of homophobic abuse in 2009-10, almost double the 364 incidents reported in 2007-8, and almost five times the 114 incidents reported in 2004-5.

New laws were introduced in Scotland in 2010 to tackle hate crime against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, putting it on the same footing as incidents involving racism.

The Offences Aggravated by Prejudice (Scotland) Act brought Scotland into line with the rest of the UK by widening the definition of hate crimes.

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13 responses to “Gay man beaten, burned alive in Scotland”

  1. My sincere sympathy to Stuart Walker’s family, loved ones and friends.

    This is a horrific crime, a mindless and cruel thing to do.

    The entire village must be in a state of shock, and I hope the police recieve the clue that will help them snag the killer(s) who belong in an insane asylum.

  2. http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/local/news/general/dead-mans-hiv-secret/2334550.aspx

    Fairfax’s the Bordermail, is in my mind is trying ignite the flame of hate in Australia. From headlines such as “Gays Bad for Children” to “Dead Man’s HIV secret” or “Gays a life of sex and drugs”, Fairfax seems to take no responsibility for the killings I think they encourage.

    We need strong criminal penalties for editors that use their power to get people bashed and killed.

  3. As a member of the straight, ally community I take great offense to the idea (posted at 5:30 on 10/24) that no straight people are working toward safety and tolerance for the GLBT community. I work EVERY DAY to end intolerance in my high school classroom and educate my students on ending the hate. Please do not believe that the disgusting people who committed this crime are representative of the entire, or even the majority, of straight people in the western world.

  4. Jay, I hope so, this is very sad. I know that small town mentality too. And going up against it is akin to embracing rejection. I hope this wakes everyone up a bit, sad as it is. :(

  5. As a Scot and an Ayrshireman, I am extremely angry at the Observer’s headline on this story. One which makes Ayrshire in Scotland sound like some backward gay bashing hellhole.

    There is NO evidence except local gossip that the victim was gay, and therefore no evidence that this appalling crime was homophobic. Strathclyde Police have publicly stated that there is no evidence in their investigations so far that Stuart Walker was gay or that the crime was homophobic in nature.

    Shameful and lazy journalism.

  6. I come from the area where this was committed. Didn’t know Stuart ( A few years older), or even if it was a homophobic attack, but I wouldn’t be surprised, just shocked at the evilness of it.

    It’s a very small town in Scotland, with small town mentality (not unlike small town country Australia) and virtually zero exposure to minorities of almost any type. Murder is very rare here, which makes this all the more horrific, it has affected the whole community and if anything good comes from it then maybe it’ll make people re-assess those homophopic, racist or bigoted viewpoints that have gone uncontested for so long in that part of the world.

  7. Whether you’re gay, lesbian bisexual or transexual…. at some point we are going to have to stop being victims and start kicking some heterosexual ass. Obviously no one else is going to protect us.

  8. it said POSSIBLE hate crime. it said POSSIBLY because of his sexuality. this is what escalates an already horrific crime against any human being (or animal for that matter), into an intollerance, this-and-that bashing witch hunt. when people jump to conclusions it serves nothing but to perpetuate ignorance & is far harder to correct if it is not the truth. wait for the evidence, then make judgements.

  9. Horrific! Poor man. You don’t have to look too far, to know which ‘organisations’ are fully responsible for entrenching homophobia in the world and encouraging those creatures of hate to committ such hideous crimes against innocent people. I long for the day that those ‘socalled’ religious organisations are taken to the International Court of Justice or the like and charged with crimes against humanity!

  10. Its sad to see this happen again & again. The law is not tough enough to stand up against homophobic until things got out of control. One young man’s life being erased, just by his sexual orientation, its just very wrong while murderer only sentence in jail with taxpayer’s money. Proper education needed & more awareness from the government too. Say no to homophobic & say yes to harmony.