Black man verbally abused African council workers
A Southfields man has been sent to prison for six months for a racially abusing and threatening two council officers who were carrying out work to rid a housing estate of dumped and abandoned cars.
The two officers, who are both black Africans, were inspecting vehicles on the William Willison estate in Southfields when they were threatened and abused by Levi McDonald, who is also black, but of Caribbean descent.
The officers had been sent to the estate as a result of complaints from residents about untaxed and abandoned cars taking up parking spaces.
But while they were investigating the problem Mr McDonald appeared and launched a tirade of racially motivated abuse and threats at them.
While the officers were checking a grey A-reg Jaguar car Mr McDonald stuck his head out an upper storey window of a block in Keevil Drive and began shouting "I will have you if you touch or put anything on my car. You think this is Africa, this is England, go back to the forest where you belong!"
A few moments later, Mr McDonald approached the officers who identified themselves and politely told him why there were there and what they were doing.
In response Mr McDonald unleashed a torrent of vicious racist insults and added: "If you do anything to my vehicle I will kill you, I know where your office is and I will wait for round the corner and follow you home, kill you and your family and do your house in. "
The two officers then decided to end the confrontation and began walking away. At this point Mr McDonald reached into the boot of his car and produced a length of scaffolding pole. He followed them, waved the pole at them threateningly and shouted "I will send you back to the bushes of Africa where you come from."
As the officers continued to walk away from him Mr McDonald, then jumped in his car and drove off. He was later arrested and charged with the offence of racially aggravated threatening behaviour.
The magistrates who heard the case said: "The offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence is justified because the defendant was racially abusive to public servants doing their job. He has shown no responsibility or remorse."
It also emerged that in a separate incident Mr McDonald had also breached the terms of a restraining order imposed by Southampton magistrates in May 2006 under the Protection from Harassment Act.
In passing their six months sentence the magistrates said that the breach of the order was "very worrying and blatant" and that no other sentence could "mark the seriousness of these offences".
In August 2003 Mr McDonald also gave a written General Form of Undertaking to a judge at Wandsworth County Court, which was backed up by the threat of imprisonment if he if he broke it.
The undertaking barred him from engaging in "conduct which causes or is likely to cause nuisance or annoyance to any person…engaging in any lawful activity" near his flat in Keevil Drive, "whether by being verbally abusive, making threats or other behaviour".
It also ordered him "not to use or threaten violence against any person……engaging in any lawful activity" in his neighbourhood, and also "not to engage in conduct causing or likely to cause a nuisance to the officers of the London Borough of Wandsworth in the discharge of their duties, whether by being verbally abusive or threatening including sending threatening or abusive letters."
Council leader Edward Lister said: "We very much welcome this stiff jail sentence handed down by the courts. This was a disgusting and disgraceful racist attack on two innocent people who were doing their job of serving the public and trying to improve the lives of local residents. People who think that council staff are fair game for abuse or threats should understand that we will prosecute them and press the courts to impose the toughest penalties."
December 27, 2007