A father whose six-year-old son was subject to a ‘homophobic attack' said his child was “too scared” to go outside in fear it could happen again.

The boy returned home with his family in Ely when they started to hear shouting from a neighbour.

“We went inside, our six-year-old son went into the garden and you could hear the shouting,” the boy’s father said.

“We wondered what was going on; he was screaming at our son so I got my child inside."

The boy was told by the neighbour that he would “grow up to be a faggot” and that “you will die of AIDS” for around 10 minutes.

After the boy went inside following the incident in October, the neighbour was recorded saying offensive language to the child’s father that we are choosing not to publish.

It is believed the comments were directed to the boy as his father is of a LGBTQ+ background.

“My son thought the man was in our garden because he was so loud,” he said.

“The week after this happened, my son was too scared to go out in the garden.

“He was shouting racist comments in July, which was recorded by police.”

Since moving to the area two years ago, the boy’s father said he has regularly heard homophobic and racist comments from the suspect.

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said the suspect is thought to have moved away from the area and will be advised not to make any contact with the boy or his family.

The spokesperson said: “We are currently progressing with a community resolution and a letter of apology in relation to his behaviour and comments made.

“No charges or arrests have been made and an investigation is ongoing.”

The father hopes that by reporting the incident, other people within the LGBTQ+ community subject to hate crime can come forward.

“I’ve spoken to some of the LGBTQ+ community in Ely who have been fantastic,” he added.

“If other people have experienced it but are too embarrassed to report it, I’d still urge them to report and maybe something will happen.”

In a freedom of information response, Cambridgeshire Constabulary recorded 143 sexual orientation hate crimes between January and August this year.