An army veteran underwent a two-hour ordeal after his gay lover ‘flipped’ and attacked him.
The gay lover, Dylan Upton, was afraid that their secret relationship would be revealed. The 21-year old Upton had a long term girlfriend from whom he had hidden this new tryst. Upton has been jailed for eleven years and eight months following the attack. There is also a restraining order that has been placed on Dylan Upton.
The army veteran and the gay lover first met on the gay dating app, Grindr. The army veteran had initially only known Upton as ‘Marcus’ as that’s he had introduced himself, but, soon found out his real name when putting money into Upton’s bank account. They then had a six-month relationship that was ‘drug-fuelled’ and ended with the attack. The attack was a direct consequence of Upton finding pictures of the two on the veteran’s phone.
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The attack.
The above-mentioned attack happened last summer when the gay lover went to the army veteran’s place after Manchester’s infamous Parklife festival. The two of them took drugs, had some alcohol and engaged in consensual sex. The next morning, however, things took a turn for the worse. Upton asked the army veteran to go out and get more alcohol, lube and some poppers.
After the veteran returned, he agreed to be consensually tied by the hands and ankles on the bed. An hour later, Upton ‘flipped’ and things turned very violent.
Image Courtesy: Manchester Evening News
Manchester Crown Court heard that the incident was triggered by Upton finding pictures of the pair together, which he thought the man had deleted from his phone. Prosecutor Justin Hayhoe said, “It was then that he changed and became very violent.” Upton apparently started punching him to the head and accused his lover of lying to him about the photographs. Upton also accused him of lying to him about the photographs being deleted. All of this happened while the army veteran was still tied to his bed. Upton had looked at the veteran’s phone and gone through it when he had left to buy the above-mentioned things.
Following this, Upton threatened the army veteran. He told him that he would get his friends “sort him out” and threatened to put “petrol through his letterbox”. Upton also demanded money from the army veteran. He put a knife to the army veteran’s throat and threatened to kill him unless he handed over all of his cash. He also used a smashed glass to ‘instil fear’ into the man.
The army veteran was then robbed and Upton took with him the veteran’s Falklands War medal, a laptop, foreign money, and family photos.
After this, Upton made the army veteran get on his knees and ordered him to say ‘I am a pervert’. Upton recorded this on his mobile phone. Upton then barricaded him onto a toilet and ransacked the army veteran’s house. He then cut the phone lines and damaged the burglar alarm. He also carried out an untidy search of the property leaving it ‘devastated’. Upton left while the man was still on the toilet. The army veteran had also lost consciousness by then. His car was also stolen.
The aftermath of the incident.
The army veteran suffered multiple injuries during the whole ordeal. He suffered a cut lip which is going to leave a permanent scar. He also suffered bruising and cuts inflicted because of the knife. Upon investigation, Upton had denied knowing the army veteran and stated that he had a girlfriend. But, his DNA was soon found on a toothbrush at the veteran’s home.
The army veteran has stated that he is suicidal. He stated, “It’s the last thing I think of at night. When I eventually get to sleep it’s the first thing I think of in the morning.” A doctor also stated that the army veteran has post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack. The army veteran is also on medication. The army veteran said he now lives ‘in fear’ and that he plans to quit his job and move away from Manchester.
He finally described Upton’s behaviour as ‘wicked’ and ‘inexcusable’. He also said he hopes Upton will reveal what happened to his ‘priceless’ war medal, which has not been recovered yet.
