25-YEAR-OLD WHO LAUNCHED HOMOPHOBIC TIRADE AT KEBAB HOUSE WORKER SENTENCED

25-year-old Jack Taylor, who shouted homophobic abuse at a kebab house worker and said that he would ‘cut her up like kebab meat’, has been handed an 18-month community order by Magistrates. Taylor, of Captains Parade in East Cowes, was found guilty at trial on 18th January, in his absence, of using threatening, abusive or insulting words/behaviour to cause harassment, alarm and distress and assault by beating. The trial heard that at around 17:00 on 29th March last year, Taylor and a female were seen arguing with one another outside Ephesus Pizza & Kebab on High Street in Newport. Taylor shouted at the girl ‘I’m going to punch your head in’. A worker from the shop saw the commotion outside and tried to intervene, however, Taylor began shouting at them and called them a variety of homosexual slurs. He also told the worker ‘I’m going to cut you up like the kebab on that skewer’. The 25-year-old – who was told numerous times to stop being aggressive – fell to the ground with the female worker and began punching her in the face and arms, ripping her clothes. Taylor was told by the member of staff to leave the premises to which he replied by saying ‘I’ll kill you in a minute’. In a victim personal statement, the staff member said how they were now ‘scared’ because of the events and that being subject to such abuse isn’t acceptable in 2023.