Appeal to trace suspect after painted Pride flags vandalised

Police are appealing to anyone with information to come forward following homophobic and transphobic hate crime in Forest Gate.

Police were alerted by London Borough of Newham colleagues early on the morning of Friday, 19 July, to three large painted Pride flags on the pavement outside Forest Gate railway station being vandalised. This follows previous incidents of damage on 23 and 26 June.

Officers have so far trawled CCTV in the area, made house to house enquiries and conducted forensic investigations, as well as making an earlier appeal to the public.

Enquiries are ongoing but the incidents are being treated as linked. No arrests have been made at this early stage.

Following the latest incident, officers are asking anyone with information to come forward so the perpetrator can be brought to justice.

Detective Inspector James Rush from the North East Public Protection Unit, who is leading efforts to identify the offender, said: “We stand with the local LGBTQ+ community and will not tolerate these disgusting, inexcusable hate crimes in Forest Gate.

"We are committed to continuing our thorough investigation and attempting to identify the offender, who we believe is the same person who committed the damage in June at the same location.

“The Met is clear that there is no place for hate in London, and my team are already working at pace to complete all lines of enquiry.

“I want to directly address the local community in Forest Gate. Someone knows who this person is. Do the right thing, and tell police, or to remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers."

Caron Harrison, co-founder of Forest Gayte Pride, said: “Once again the LGBTQI+ community in Forest Gate and further afield is appalled at the defacing of our flags. We have had an amazing amount of love and support from our many allies and are hopeful that this person will be caught and dealt with.

“There is far too much hate and we will continue to fight for our rights. They can try to intimidate us and paint over our flags, but they cannot paint over our pride.”

Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101 or via the Met Police website, quoting reference 1117/17JUL24. To remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Information can also be provided to the LGBTQ+ charity Galop by visiting www.galop.org.uk