Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
24th May 2023 Issue no. 657

Your industry news - first

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Locksmith ordered to pay £7,500 in damages for making 'discriminatory gestures' at gay customer

A locksmith in England has been ordered to pay £7,500 in compensation for making 'discriminatory gestures' at a gay customer - the first time a business has been ordered to pay damages for discrimination that was entirely non-verbal.

Peter Edwards, 30, blew a 'sarcastic kiss' at the man - only identified as Tim - as he walked out of Taylor Edwards in Southend, Essex following a dispute over a refund in late 2013.

Over the following months, Edwards made another 20 'homophobic' gestures as Tim walked past the store. 'He would wink at me, limp wrist, [make the shape of a] tea pot, kiss at me and what I would class as a vile, vulgar homophobic gesture as well, inferring oral sex with a male. That was the most offensive,' Tim told the BBC.

4th November 2015