Calum McSwiggan pleads not guilty to filing false police report over alleged homophobic attack

British YouTube personality Calum McSwiggan appeared in court yesterday (September 26) to enter his plea after he was charged with filing a false police report and vandalising a car, following an alleged homophobic attack.

The 26-year-old vlogger became embroiled in controversy back in June after posting a picture of himself lying in a hospital bed on June 28, alleging that he had been the victim of an anti-gay attack outside West Hollywood nightclub, The Abbey.

“With three broken teeth and six stitches in my forehead, I’ve never felt so terrified to be a gay man in the public eye,” he wrote at the time, before accusing authorities of treating him “like a second class citizen” during the ordeal.

However, Los Angeles Police Department later confirmed that after responding to McSwiggan’s initial 911 call, they were unable to substantiate his claims as he had “no visible injuries”, and instead arrested him for vandalising a vehicle.

Officers claimed that McSwiggan then caused his own injuries with a payphone while being held in custody.

McSwiggan maintains that he simply lashed out after the initial assault, but the police later charged him for making a police report for a crime which they say never happened.

At the time, he wrote “My whole adult life I’ve done everything I can for this community and I’ve always dedicated myself to LGBT+ issues, so now my entire reputation is being discredited because the police simply didn’t believe I did this and I have said that that’s not the police’s fault.”

Yesterday, he pleaded not guilty. According to the Telegraph, he is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on November 7. He made no comment as he left the court room.

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