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Thursday 7 April 2011

Philip Sallon's attack - "Evening Standard"


'Gay-bashing' fear over Boy George friend after fractured skull in West End street attack

6 Apr 201
The family of a gay socialite who suffered a fractured skull during a vicious beating in the West Endfear he may have been the victim of a homophobic attack.
Philip Sallon, described by singer Boy George as "my oldest and closest friend", was kicked repeatedly in the head in the early hours of Saturday.
The 59-year-old is still recovering in hospital and has no memory of the attack. His niece Miriam Elia, 28, who visited him in hospital, said: "It is not the first time he's been beaten up.
"He has had this in the Eighties because of what he was, but if this was a homophobic attack I would be absolutely disgusted. He is well-known as a gay icon. Sometimes my uncle gets into grief with people but he never gets violent and he doesn't really drink. The person who did this could have killed him and we want to find out who it was, whether it was gay-bashing or something else."
Mr Sallon, of St John's Wood, is a flamboyant figure on the West End club scene and founded the Mud Club in Tottenham Court Road in the Eighties.
Police said he was outside Gap near Piccadilly Circus at about 3.30am when two people kicked him in the head repeatedly and ran off. Miss Elia said: "He is conscious but only briefly and then he is out again. He could have been killed, he had been kicked so many times."
Yesterday, Boy George, who wrote the 2002 West End hit Taboo which featured Mr Sallon, appealed for witnesses to come forward. The 49-year-old singer urged the person who called an ambulance to contact the police. Anyone with information should call 020 7321 9315 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111