Man Holds on After Gang Assault

A 22-year-old man in Liverpool, England, is holding on for his life after a vicious gang beating on Sunday night. James Parkes is currently hospitalized with multiple skull fractures, a fractured eye socket, and a fractured cheekbone.

Three teenagers, one aged 14 and two aged 15, were arrested in connection with the attack. A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police told the Liverpool Echo that there may have been up to 13 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 involved in the attack.

Parkes was assaulted on Stanley Street, described as the center of the city's gay neighborhood. Homotopia, an annual monthlong festival, is scheduled to start in that neighborhood on November 1. This year's theme is "Homotopia, NOT Homophobia for 2009."

Investigators said they are treating the assault as a hate crime, and are examining closed-circuit television footage to find the other perpetrators.