He also directed a series of sexually offensive remarks at one police woman called to the scene of a city centre street brawl.
A Belfast man who subjected PSNI officers to a “shocking” tirade of racist and sectarian slurs has been jailed for three months.
Neil Henry, 32, also directed a series of sexually offensive remarks at one police woman called to the scene of a city centre street brawl.
The outburst earlier this month included making offensive and menacing comments about one victim’s relatives and children.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard Henry, of no fixed abode, has only spent four weeks outside of prison in the last five years.
He pleaded guilty to new charges of disorderly behaviour and assault on police.
Officers had been dealing with an unrelated incident at CastleCourt shopping centre on April 4 when they were alerted to a number of men fighting outside.
Henry was detained at the scene on Royal Avenue, but immediately became verbally abusive.
“He shouted sectarian slurs such as ‘specky, four-eyed fenian b*****d’ and ‘dirty fenian rebel b*****ds’,” a Crown lawyer said.
The defendant made threats about cutting the throat of one officer, asking if he wanted his family to be short or his children raped.
At one point Henry had to be restrained on the ground due to the level of his aggression.
When a female officer approached he called her a “rat” and then shouted: “F*** up you dirty slut, go take a c***.”
The tirade continued after another constable approached to assist her, according to the prosecution, with Henry directing repeated racist remarks at him.
He told that officer: “Don’t you f***ing come near me, you black c***, you dirty f***ing rat.”
Removing any doubt about his intentions, the defendant then declared: “I’m a racist b*****d.”
During the outburst, he went on: “I f***ing hate blacks, they get everything, they are dirty immigrant c***s.”
Despite the repeated slurs, the charges were not classed as aggravated by hostility or hatred.
Deputy District Judge Gerard Trainor suggested it may have been an oversight by the prosecution.
A defence barrister told the court Henry was keen to get the case dealt with.
“He has an unenviable record… he has spent effectively no more than four weeks outside of prison in the last five years,” counsel disclosed.
Mr Trainor ruled that the offences were serious enough to justify sentencing Henry to a further jail term.
Imposing three months’ immediate custody, the judge said: “Although the aggravator is missing and I can’t rely on that, these facts and the outbursts are shocking to the ears of this court and any other reasonable person.”
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