MANCHESTER police investigating two homophobic attacks carried out in the space of a few hours released a picture yesterday of a man they want to question.

Police released a CCTV image of the shaven-headed white man in a black shirt wanted in connection with the second incident that saw a man left with a broken jaw after being attacked while promoting an LGBT rugby team in Manchester’s Canal Street gay village on November 1.

The victim underwent surgery in which he had to have a metal plate inserted in his jaw.

The assault came eight hours after two men were beaten by a 15-strong gang in a separate attack nearby after singing show tunes on a tram.

Jean Claude Manseau, 25, and Jake Heaton, 19, were attacked at 1am after singing songs from the musical Wicked on a tram from Bury to Manchester.

One victim was left with injuries to his head, face and ribs.

The assault prompted a protest singalong on the network by a gay and lesbian choir, the Safe to Sing campaign, which this week took 80 singers onto Manchester’s tram network to sing in support of the two men.

Detective Constable Louise Kelly, who is investigating the later attack, said: “We believe this to be a homophobic attack and I want to make it clear that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated on our streets.

“The victim was merely promoting his rugby team, but was subjected to an attack, during which he suffered a broken jaw and has had a metal plate inserted into his face.”