‘I was knocked unconscious for holding hands with my partner’

“We were celebrating our engagement – it should have been one of the best experiences that anyone should be able to have, where I proposed to my boyfriend and he is now my fiancée.

“We were walking down the road holding hands.”

It was at this point a homophobic slur was shouted.

“Before I knew it, I was being punched in the face and I fell to the floor.”

During the attack, their engagement ring was lost.

“I just wanted to get it back,” said Mr Samuel, who works as a drag queen telling stories to children.

“The police said my health and safety was their top priority, but as soon as I got to the hospital I left.

“I went back to near the McDonald’s and I was just crying and searching on the ground for it.”

Eventually, they found the ring and then went back to hospital where scans showed they had a fractured jaw.

Mr Samuel, who is recovering at home, said this has made them more determined to go out and hold hands with their partner.