A 16-year-old has been arrested and bailed after a man in his 20s was followed and abused in Little London car park. Police treat it as a homophobic hate crime.

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after a man was followed and verbally abused in a Chichester city centre car park. Sussex Police is treating it as a homophobic hate crime.

The force set out what happened in a statement published on Friday 16 October.

What the police say happened

  • When: about 6pm on Tuesday 13 October
  • Where: the Little London car park behind East Street
  • What: a man in his 20s reported being followed and verbally abused by a group of young men riding bicycles
  • How it is being treated: as a homophobic hate crime

The force said the victim was left shaken. Officers visited him at a venue nearby to reassure him and take a full statement.

The arrest

The boy cannot be identified for legal reasons. Sussex Police said he was arrested on suspicion of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. He was also arrested on suspicion of shop theft.

He was given a Community Protection Warning and has been bailed pending further enquiries. Nobody has been charged. The force’s statement does not say whether anyone else in the group has been identified.

Inspector Dave Lyons, of the Chichester Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This was a distressing incident for the victim and we understand the concern it has caused for the wider community.”

He added: “Hate has no place in our communities. We understand that reporting it can sometime be difficult, but we continue to encourage anyone impacted by hate crimes to report them to Sussex Police.”

The force said it was working with partner agencies in Chichester to support victims of crime.

What it means for you

  • If you saw something in or near Little London car park around 6pm on 13 October, Sussex Police asks you to report it online, quoting serial 47260238010.
  • If it happened to you, the force says it wants to hear about hate crimes even when they are hard to report. Sussex Police has a hate crime reporting page. Call 999 if someone is in danger now.
  • For context: police.uk does not label hate crimes separately. It recorded 28 public order offences within a mile of the city centre in August 2026, the latest month published. Our August crime figures story has the full picture.

Little London is one of the city’s short-stay car parks, with 81 spaces. Our guide to parking in Chichester lists the others.