A former soldier who pleaded guilty to a racist assault after chasing a teacher down the street with two umbrellas and using a racial slur has received a 10-week suspended sentence and been ordered to pay his victim £300.
Robert Browne, 56, pleaded guilty last month at Tameside magistrates court to racially/religiously aggravated common assault/beating on 25 July this year after a video showed him hurling racist abuse at Shabir Makim, 40, and striking him with umbrellas.
In a sentencing hearing at the court on Thursday, Browne apologised and admitted he had been under the influence of alcohol when he carried out the assault.
“I apologise for my behaviour on that day. It was unacceptable,” he said. The court heard that he had recently been diagnosed with PTSD.
Makim, however, said justice had not been served.
He was assaulted and verbally abused after he intervened when Browne and another man became involved in a heated exchange with a homeless man begging outside a Tesco store in Cheadle, in Stockport, Greater Manchester. Makim filmed the incident on his phone because he was worried that it might escalate.
Browne became angry with Makim for filming and began to pursue him down the street and striking him on the head with the umbrellas.
Makim shared the video with friends and family in a WhatsApp group and one of them posted it on social media. It received 1.5m views on Twitter. In the video, Browne can also be heard repeatedly hurling racist abuse at Makim.
Magistrate Catherine Meek said the offence was serious and of “a prolonged and persistent nature”. Along with the racially aggravating factors, she said, there was “gratuitous degradation of the victim”. She said the video was “quite horrifying to watch”.
But responding to the sentence, Makim said: “ I do not feel that justice has been served today. An ex-army officer called me a Paki, threatened to kill me, attacked me and changed my life for ever, but he has not been given jail time.
“He got a suspended sentence and walked out of court freely this afternoon. I did the right thing, I recorded the incident as evidence, I didn’t fight back, I called the police.
“But I don’t feel protected by the law. What message is today’s sentence giving to those who share the same values as Robert Browne? Behave as you wish with people of colour and you’ll only get a suspended sentence.”
