Builder fined for taunting man with cement penises

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A builder has been fined after subjecting a Bristol man to homophobic abuse and leaving cement penises on a wall outside his house.

Michael Parkes, a 34-year-old builder, lodged a guilty plea at Bristol Magistrates’ Court yesterday but did not appear in person, the Bristol Evening Post reports.

He admitted using threatening words and behaviour towards the victim, Richard Ives, last spring.

Parkes’s defence lawyer said he would not attend as he had broken his ankle while being pushed down a flight of stairs by a co-defendant in the case in November.

The events occurred on when Parkes was working on a house in the city.

His victim had asked to move his washing before Parkes and his colleagues began work on the neighbouring property.

The prosecutor, Andrea Edwards, said: “Parkes began acting aggressively and called him ‘a queer’.

“Mr Ives went inside and then left the house to pick up his partner. When they got back there was a piece of chipboard outside his house with a drawing of a penis and a homophobic slur written on it.

“There were also two models of penises that had been made out of cement, placed on his wall.”

The builder turned sculptor was fined £200, ordered him to pay the victim £200 in compensation and cover £200 of case costs.

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