Michael Causer (9 October 1989 – 2 August 2008) was a gay teenager living in Liverpool who came to national attention in the United Kingdom when he was seriously assaulted because of his sexual orientation in the early hours on the morning of 25 July 2008 after a small house party.
[2] According to evidence put before the jury, the trigger-point for the violence came when Causer's attackers found sexually explicit images of him on his mobile phone as he slept upstairs in a house where a party had been held.
During the trial, it was also claimed that Alker used a cigarette lighter to burn the hair on Mr Causer's legs, and that threats were made to rip out his body piercings with a knife.
Michael Binsteed, who had initially called the emergency services but had lied about not knowing the attackers' identities, pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice and was sentenced to 34 weeks in custody, suspended for two years.
Due to the generosity of the response to this fund, it developed into the Michael Causer Foundation, whose aim is to provide supported accommodation for vulnerable LGBT young people in the north West of England.