Met Police interview LGBT friends abused in Wembley chicken shop

A gay man and a trans woman were told to leave a takeaway shop by a man who threatened them with being stabbed.

Footage shows Valentino Kyriakou, 20, and Naya Martinez, 21, being subjected to homophobic slurs by a group of young men in Wembley, north-west London.

The TikTok video shows the friends being told that they would be "shanked" if they returned to the area.

Police say they are trying to identify those seen in the video but have made no arrests.

The pair were interviewed by officers on Monday.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Kyriakou, 20, from north-west London, said he feared he would be attacked during the incident, which happened in a chicken shop on Bridge Road at about 18:00 GMT on 20 January.

Explaining what happened, he said men on the street started recording him and his friend as they waited for their food.

He said: "They were calling us every name and then threatening to 'shank' us, which is obviously stab us in the shop, so we just had to leave without even getting all our food.

"I literally just thought they were about to stab us. They were just going crazy - it went from one to a hundred.

"They were so, so angry, I don't know why. They literally were so threatened by us - it was crazy. And all we were doing was standing there waiting to pick up our food."

Ms Martinez, 21 and from west London, said: "I remember this one guy saying to me 'you are not from here and this does not run here... and I was like 'why, I'm ordering my food?' and he was like 'no, I beg you get out or I will stab you'.

"All I felt in that moment was 'oh my God I am going to get touched soon, this is going to be physical."

She said she was in a state of shock over the men hurling transphobic and homophobic abuse at her.

The video was originally posted to TikTok, apparently by one of the group of men. It has since been shared on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where it has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

Mr Kyriakou said he thought it was right to speak out about what happened.

"I believe this will help others and raise awareness because in today's society there's so much about the LGBT community going unrecognised. And this is a massive example of that - transphobia and homophobia raw."

Ms Martinez said: "Stuff like this within London in the LGBT community happens every day.

"I was surprised the video went that viral and it's getting people's attention.

"I'm glad this has happened because it might be the perfect opportunity for us to speak out and let the people know this stuff is actually happening - it's unbelievable."

In a statement, the Met Police said: "Police were made aware of this video on Saturday, 29 January which shows an incident at a takeaway restaurant in Bridge Road, Wembley.

"Inquiries are under way to identify those shown in the video."

In a statement, TikTok said: "The video shared has been removed from TikTok for violating our community guidelines. We are also taking measures to proactively remove any copies of the video that may be in circulation."

"Hate has no place on TikTok, and we do not tolerate any content or accounts that attack, incite violence against or otherwise dehumanise people on the basis of their gender or sexuality.

"We work aggressively to combat hateful behaviour by removing accounts and content that violate our policies, as we did in this instance."