A man arrested for causing a rumpus at a friend's home was then hostile to police, shouting and swearing at them. Bristol Crown Court heard Ricky Gayle told police "I'm f-ing not, do I look like a bacon?" when asked if he was halal.
Gayle, 63, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and a public order offence in December last year. Judge Moira Macmillan jailed him for 32 weeks, which included activation of a previously suspended 30 weeks' jail.
The judge told Gayle: "You are 63 and you have a lengthy list of previous convictions. Unfortunately there is a pattern of offending I have to consider today."
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Rhianna Fricker, prosecuting, told the court Gayle was in Bristol drinking with an old friend. She woke up at her women's hostel to find Gayle shouting at her before he ripped down some Venetian blinds as well as a ceiling light.
The next day Gayle returned, the woman called police and he was arrested. The court heard he was taken to a police station, where he became hostile, shouted and swore and used language that was said to be racially offensive and homophobic.
Miss Fricker said: "Police asked him if he was halal. He told them: 'I'm f-ing not, do I look like a bacon?' He was interviewed and denied being racist or intending to cause harassment, alarm or distress."
Halal is defined as meat that has been prepared to adhere to Islamic law.
The court heard Gayle had 27 previous convictions for 47 offences spanning from 1976 to 2022. They included 12 offences against the person and eight offences of criminal damage.
Lucy Taylor, defending, said her client had "mental health episode" shortly before the offence. She said Gayle arrived in Bristol and was trying to sort out his accommodation when the offences occurred.
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