Jailed for racially abusing and spitting at a family

Jailed for racially abusing and spitting at a family

CREDIT: Twitter

Jailed for racially abusing and spitting at a family.

A MAN has been jailed for racially abusing and spitting toward a family visiting Bridport.

The family who were originally from the Philippines, but live in Reading, were standing outside a Waitrose store in the town when they were approached by Daniel Lavery, 39.

He shouted racial abuse at them before putting some crisps in his mouth, chewing them and then spitting them in the direction of the family.

Lavery walked off along West Street and police were called.

Lavery was arrested and when questioned said he couldn’t remember what had happened because he was drunk.

Neighbourhood Inspector Darren Stanton, of West Dorset police, said: “This was an extremely distressing incident for the victims who are residents of this country and came to visit Bridport to experience what the town has to offer.

“Due to the small-minded actions of one individual, their experience will have been an extremely negative one that is likely to have left them will feeling shocked, angry and upset.”

Officers liaised with the Dorset Race Equality Council as part of the court process and it provided a statement to be considered by the magistrates adjudicating on the case.

The statement said: “The couple in question were holidaying in Bridport and were having a nice family time in Dorset. They were certainly not expecting to be verbally abused and spat at by an individual who was drunk and who broke all the guidance on social distancing during a time of international pandemic.”

It added: “If we all want to eradicate hate incidents and hate crimes and make Dorset a prejudice free area, we need to send strong messages that those incidents will not be tolerated.”

Lavery of South Walk, Bridport, was sentenced at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court after admitting offences of using racially aggravated threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of or provoke unlawful violence and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress. He was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison.


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Tara Rippin

Tara Rippin is a reporter for Spain’s largest English-speaking newspaper, Euro Weekly News, and is responsible for the Costa Blanca region.
She has been in journalism for more than 20 years, having worked for local newspapers in the Midlands, UK, before relocating to Spain in 1990.
Since arriving, the mother-of-one has made her home on the Costa Blanca, while spending 18 months at the EWN head office in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol.
She loves being part of a community that has a wonderful expat and Spanish mix, and strives to bring the latest and most relevant news to EWN’s loyal and valued readers.

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