Philadelphia woman gets jail time for gay bashing

The woman at the centre of a 2014 gay bashing has been sentenced to up to ten months in prison.

Kathryn Knott, the daughter of a local police cheif was in downtown Philadelphia celebrating a friend’s birthday at Philadelphia City Centre when she became involved in an altercation with a same-sex couple who were walking by the venue on their way to get a pizza.

The altercation, which involved several members of Knott’s group — including several alumni from the Catholic high school Knott had attended – soon spiralled into a violent attack.

Witnesses told police someone in Knott’s group shouted a gay slur, kicking off the fight, which left one of the victim’s with a broken jaw.

One witness claimed Knott had participated in the attack – actually throwing a punch – but Knott denied this accusation and said she was actually attempting to intervene.

Video surveillance footage appeared to back up the witness testimony and in December a jury found Knott guilty of simple assault, reckless endangerment and conspiracy. Today a judge sentenced the 25-year-old to five to ten months in jail for her crimes.

Two of Knott’s friends, Philip Williams and Kevin Harriagn had also been arrested over the attack but struck a plea bargain and are now serving probation and community service.