Teen apologises to former Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas over homophobic attack

Teen apologises to former Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas over homophobic attack
Image: Image: @gareththomas14 / Twitter.

Retired Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas has met with the 16-year-old who homophobically assaulted him, who has now apologised for the incident.

Thomas posted an emotional video on Twitter on Sunday, thanking followers for their support and thanking the police for allowing him to pursue “restorative justice”.

South Wales police today said that Thomas had met with the boy, who admitted to the attack and apologised to Thomas, The Guardian reported.

“This morning I have decided to make what I hope will be a positive video,” Thomas said in the video, showing visible signs of the attack on his face.

“Last night I was the victim in my home city of a hate crime for my sexuality.

“Why I want it to be positive…I want to say thank you to the police, who were involved and allowed me to do restorative justice to the people that did this because I thought they could learn more that way.

“And also to the people of Cardiff who supported me and helped me because there’s a lot of people out there who want to hurt us.

“But, unfortunately for them, there’s a lot more who want to help us heal. So this, I hope, will be a positive message.”

In a statement, police said confirmed that “a local 16-year-old boy was dealt with by way of restorative justice following the incident at around 9pm.”

“Restorative justice was at the request of Mr Thomas and accepted by the teenager who admitted assault and was apologetic for his actions.”

Thomas retired from sport in 2011 after coming out in 2009, having represented various clubs in Wales and abroad as well as his country at an international level – until he was overtaken in 2011, he became the most-capped Welsh test rugby player in a match against Australia in Sydney in 2007.

Since retiring from sport, he has gone on to be an outspoken advocate against homophobia in sport, and published his autobiography Proud in 2014.

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