A LOCKSMITH has spoken of her ‘shock and devastation’ that her business has been ordered to pay £7,500 to a gay man who said he was the victim of homophobic abuse.

Angela Edwards, who runs Taylor Edwards locksmiths in Shoebury, said the cost of fighting the legal action brought by the man, named only as Tim, had left her ‘already struggling’ company in financial trouble and destroyed her savings, even before she had to pay the compensation.

She said: “We are just devastated and shocked and frankly disgusted. We have treated that man with the utmost respect and we don’t deserve this.”

The complainant said he had been subjected to months of abuse at the hands of her son Peter Edwards, a staff member at Taylor Edwards, following an altercation over some locks Tim had returned to the shop.

He said Mr Edwards would make gestures whenever he walked passed the shop, adding: “He would just make gestures ranging from what I would call quite low level.

“He would wink at me, limp wrist, tea pot, kiss at me and what I would class as a vile, vulgar homophobic gesture as well, inferring oral sex with a male. That was the most offensive.

“I was his joke I think, his source of amusement. I don't know what his mindset was. I was stressed out by it, distressed.

“I suffer from depression and it contributed to a relapse.”

Mrs Edwards denied her son was homophobic saying he would do everything he could to protect the lesbian, gay and transgender community if they were being attacked.

She added there were transgender relatives in her family.

“Peter’s reputation was known to the police as a man of excellent conduct. My son does not deserve the allegations that have been levelled against him, as he has served lesbian and transgender people. We have transgender people in our family,” she said.

The firm has been running since 2002 and Mrs Edwards said she did not know how she was going to pay the compensation as the company was struggling financially.

“We can’t help the fact that the court has dealt with this matter in the way that it has but it is still not true. The judge decided on the basis of probability and he has that permission in law in a civil court.

“I am not responsible for what happens here on in, but he is responsible for destroying a company that has struggled to keep afloat against floods, fires, errant landlords and recession,” she said.

Tim had successfully argued the firm had broken the terms of the Equality Act, which prevents retailers from discriminating against customers on grounds including race, religion and sexuality.