Drunk man in race rant spared jail to salvage family

Shane Whyte had downed 14 cans of lager before launching the verbal and physical attack as neighbour Abdul Wahid walked past the flats block where he lives in Highgate Road, Holly Hall, Dudley Magistrates Court heard.

Mr Jim Mason, prosecuting, explained: "The victim heard objects being thrown down and, when he looked up, saw this man standing on a balcony. The defendant shouted at him, 'what are you looking at Paki? Why don't you go back to your own country?'"

Whyte, a 35-year-old unemployed father of four, came down the stairs to confront Mr Wahid with a three feet long piece of wood allegedly picked up in the street, the court was told.

He then hit the victim over the head but ran off after passing motorists got out of their cars to halt the assault at around 6pm on June 21 last year.

Miss Tanya Johnson, defending, said Whyte claimed to have punched the victim in the face and struck him with the piece of wood just once but conceded he remembered little of the incident. District Judge Michael Wheeler observed: "That is presumably because he had drunk 14 cans of alcohol."

The lawyer maintained Whyte was now seeking treatment for his use of alcohol and had been served with an eviction order. He is now trying to find private rented accommodation while facing the prospect of losing his children, aged nine to 14.

Whyte admitted racially aggravated assault and was given a 16 week jail sentence suspended for a year with 100 hours unpaid work and £280 costs. There was no order for compensation because the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board has paid Mr Wahid £1,000.

District Judge Wheeler the defendant: "You had drunk an awful lot that day and were also in possession of cannabis for which you have been separately fined. While you drink yourself into oblivion and buy cannabis you are presumably not paying the rent which is why you are facing eviction. There is a also a risk of your children being taken away from you."

He continued: "Those who racially abuse and attack when drunk should expect to go to prison but if I lock you up today that will hurt your wife and children. If you and your partner are to keep you children and not end up homeless they need you out of prison."

Mr Wahid, a 58-year-old grandfather and factory worker living less than 100 yards down the same street, said after the case: "I can understand the judge's thinking but I feel he should have been jailed. A clear message should go out from the courts that this kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated and those who carry on like that will be put behind bars.

He insisted he was hit several times on the head and body with the wood and explained: "That is why I was paid £1,000. I would not have got that for a single blow."