A company director sprayed an Asian man with fire extinguisher foam and called him horrific racist names after he was pelted with food.
Mobile phone footage shows the scared victim having food thrown at him from off camera before David Heslop emerges onto the screen and discharges the fire extinguisher over his face and body. A court heard he called the man racist names and as the foam went over him, said "this is the first time you've been white" and also called him a grass.
Heslop, 36, of Rubens Avenue, South Shields, whose previous convictions including a racially aggravated public order offence, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated causing fear of provocation or violence. But he denies being a racist and a judge at Newcastle Crown Court said he would sentence him on the basis he is not.
The court heard the incident happened at the Indian Brasserie, in South Shields, on April 22 2018. Peter Sabiston, prosecuting, said: "The incident, in part, was captured on a mobile phone, taken by one of the people the defendant was with that evening.
"There is a lone male on the receiving end of the defendant's behaviour, who appears to be of Asian heritage. He was covered in food, being pelted with food. He sits passively despite the audible racist insults. The prosecution say his failure to react is because of the intimidation.
"The defendant emerges on screen and discharges a fire extinguisher on his body and face."
Judge Robert Adams said it was "a pretty grim transcript of what was said" and that Heslop had denied the offence originally as he said he wasn't racist but that "on the strength of what's revealed on the footage it's hard to see what the defence could have been". He told Heslop: "It was a deeply unpleasant exchange between you and the victim.
"There's clearly some kind of background about someone being a grass. It's not known what the background is but on the face of it it doesn't help you." The judge said the comment about him being a "grass" may have been the main motivation for the offence.
He said the offence demonstrated hostility which he would not have done while sober and added: "It may be you are not in fact a racist person and you will be sentenced on that basis. You deny the offence being committed because of any hostility of a racist type."
The court heard Heslop was fined for a racially aggravated public order offence in 2007 and also has convictions for assault and being drunk on a plane.
For the latest offence, he was sentenced to eight weeks suspended for 12 months and must pay £500 costs.
Christopher Knox, defending, said: "He is a director of a commercial property company in South Shields." Heslop provided the court with a letter from an Imam saying he had known him for eight years through the motor trade and charity events and had never known him be racist.
