Four teens charged in attack on flight attendant and American girlfriend who refused to kiss
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Four teenage boys have been charged with an aggravated hate crime after brutally beating two women who refused their demands to kiss while aboard a bus in London last May, authorities said Thursday.
The teens attacked 28-year-old Melania Geymonat, a flight attendant from Uruguay, and her American girlfriend, Chris, on the upper deck of a bus traveling through West Hampstead, London, in the early hours of May 30. The women were beaten and robbed. A photo after the incident showed their bloody facial injuries.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two 16-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old were charged with an aggravated hate crime under the Public Order act, the Metropolitan Police Service announced in a statement. The identities of the teens were not released.
Melania Geymonat, 28, (right) originally from Uruguay, was riding the bus with her girlfriend Chris (left) after an evening out in West Hampstead, London, in the early hours of May 30. (Melania Geymonat)
One 16-year-old faces an additional charge of theft and handling stolen goods, while the other is accused of possessing cannabis. The 15-year-old was also charged with theft and handling stolen goods.
The teens were scheduled to appear in Highbury Corner Youth Court on Aug. 21.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Speaking after the attack, Geymonat said the teens demanded the women kiss while making crude sexual gestures and throwing coins at them.
“The next thing I remember was Chris in the middle of them and they were beating her,” Geymonat said. “I didn’t think about it and went in. I was pulling her back and trying to defend her so they started beating me up.
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“I felt blood, I was bleeding all over my clothes and all over the floor.”
Both women were taken to a hospital and received treatment for facial injuries.