Man gets beat up by a gang, who left his skull fractured for being Gay

A British man has been hospitalised after a gang of four attacked him and fractured his skull in a suspected homophobic street attack.

25-year-old Carl Johnson was hospitalised with a bleed on the brain after he was attacked in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on Sunday.

His family believes the unwarranted attack was because of his sexuality.

Carl's brother, Mark Johnson spoke about his family's heartache after the attack and released a picture of Carl in his hospital bed.

He said: 'It's just been devastating for all of us. My mum especially has taken it very hard. 'We just can't fathom why someone would do something like that to him. 

'He's the softest, kindest person you would ever meet. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He actually rang me that night to tell me he loved me'

 'When I was on my way to the hospital I was thankful we'd had that conversation in case anything went wrong. He's very lucky to be alive. We don't how long his recovery will take, it could take a month, it could take six months or longer.' 

He said Carl rang him on Saturday evening saying he wanted to go to the Rochdale Feel Good Festival and suspects the attack must have occurred after he went into the town centre to see if he could get tickets for the event.

Carl Johnson, who is a distribution center worker was found by paramedics at 1.50am and taken to a hospital, before being moved to a specialist brain injury unit at Salford Royal Hospital.

Police believe Mr. Carl was attacked by three men and a woman as he walked home.

The Greater Manchester Police said he was knocked to the floor by the suspects before punching and kicking him as he lay defenceless on the floor.

They said he has briefly spoken to police, but his memory of the assault is unclear as he remains seriously ill, and has been slipping in and out of consciousness, after suffering a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain, as well as a broken jaw, hand and ribs,'

The Police say they are still investigating the attack and its motive.

Det Cons Craig Wallace, of GMP's Rochdale borough, said: 'This was a completely unprovoked attack on an innocent man who has been left with serious injuries.

'Our thoughts are with the victim and his family at this time as he remains in hospital receiving treatment.

'We have launched an investigation and I would ask that anybody who thinks they may know something that can assist with our investigation to please contact police.'