CPS West Midlands: Successful hate crime prosecutions in March and April 2020
Our lawyers successfully prosecuted hate crime cases in the West Midlands in March and April 2020. Among those targeted by the defendants were police officers, security guards, a 15-year-old schoolboy, and a mother and her six-year-old child. Below are just a handful of the cases we prosecuted.
Noshad Khan, 29, concealed a £15.99 bottle of gin in his jacket in Aldi and left the store without paying. The security guard followed him to confront him. However, Khan became aggressive and was detained, after which he racially abused the security guard. He was charged with theft, assault and a racially aggravated public order offence. He pleaded guilty at on the trial date of12 March 2020 at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court and was sentenced to 11 weeks' imprisonment. The original 10-week sentence was increased by one week to reflect the hate crime nature of the case.
Peter Haddon, 57, pleaded guilty at his first hearing at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates’ Court on 7 April 2020 to the racial abuse of a mother and her six-year-old child in a supermarket car park. The incident was witnessed by two members of staff who called the police. Haddon received a 42-day custodial sentence for causing racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress. The sentencing court informed him that he would have received a financial penalty; however, the sentence was increased to a custodial sentence to reflect the hate crime nature of the case.
On 12 March 2020, Adam Matthew Worton was found wandering in the road while intoxicated. His behaviour was erratic, and he was taken to hospital where he refused treatment and was discharged. However, he shouted racist abuse at the officers at the entrance to the accident and emergency department and made threats to them. He was charged with two racially aggravated public order offences, he pleaded guilty at court and his sentence was increased from a community order to a 12-week custodial sentence to reflect the nature of the offence.
Connor Kierans and James Chandler were jailed for the violent racist attack of a 15-year-old schoolboy and his 19-year-old brother. The defendants pulled up in a van alongside the victims who were on their way home from a basketball game in the park and used racist language as they tried to take a ball from them. They then carried out horrific physical assaults on both victims. Both defendants were charged with racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm. They admitted their guilt on 2 February 2020 and were sentenced on 13 March 2020. Chandler, aged 35, received 27 months' imprisonment, which was increased from 21 months to reflect the racist nature of the crime, while 33-year-old Kierans received 29 months' imprisonment, which was uplifted from 21 months due to the racist nature.
On 9 March 2020, David William Bailey and Ashley Roberts were jailed for a violent homophobic attack on a gay couple in Manchester city centre. The defendants shouted homophobic slurs at the couple and demanded they hand over money. They pleaded guilty at the PTPH hearing on 7 February 2020 at Manchester Crown Court and were both sentenced to 32 months' imprisonment which was uplifted due to the homophobic aggravation.
Police responded to reports of a disorder in the city centre on 16 October 2019 during which police officers were headbutted, kicked and subjected to homophobic and racist abuse by 27-year-old Jake Hewson. He pleaded guilty at his first hearing to two counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker, two counts of using threatening words and behaviour towards police, one count of racially aggravated intentional harassment and one count of criminal damage to property. He received a suspended sentence on 30 April 2020 at Birmingham Crown Court. The custodial part of the sentence was increased by two months to reflect the fact that this was a hate crime.
A youth, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence on 3 March 2020 for racially abusing a security officer at Hull railway station following her removal from the station for antisocial behaviour with a group of youths. The defendant admitted her guilt at Hull Magistrates' Court and her sentence was uplifted from a conditional discharge to a referral order due to the racist nature of the offence.