Brian McDermott seeks refuge in a cramped back room he calls his "prison cell". With a bed, a garden chair and a portable television squeezed in, it is the only place in his flat in Derry's Bogside where the 54-year-old feels safe. His front door has been boarded up and triple-locked after a makeshift bomb blew out the letterbox.

Mr McDermott has not left his flat after 2pm for 16 weeks, afraid he will be attacked for being gay.