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14
Sept
Man sentenced for racially harassing staff member at Harrogate shop
A man has been sentenced after racially harassing a staff member at a Harrogate shop.
Peter Galsworthy, 39, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday (September 10) where he spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and address.
Galsworthy, of Dene Park, admitted at a previous hearing one count of racially aggravated harassment at the Co-op store on King Edwards Drive on May 8 last year. He appeared in court this week for sentencing.
Sarah Tyrer, prosecuting, told the court that the 39-year-old had entered the store at around 8.20pm when he began shouting: “is anybody working here?”.
The named victim came onto the shop floor and Galsworthy started asking where the beer crates were.
He then pointed at the victim as said: “You are always rude to me”.
The victim pointed towards some items, but Galsworthy became aggressive and said: “If you are in this country, you should serve me well”.
Ms Tyrer said:
He asked her to find him somebody English to deal with.
The court heard that the victim pressed a button on her headset to speak to her manager about a customer making “racist comments”.
Ms Tyrer said Galsworthy was then aggressive towards the victim’s manager and “asked him outside”.
She said:
The victim said whole incident happened five minutes but it seemed to last a while. She said the whole incident has ‘left me feeling frightened and frustrated’.
In a victim impact statement, which the prosecution read aloud in court, the victim said Galsworthy was “verbally abusive” and “criticised my English”.
They added:
His comments clearly targeted my nationality. I have never experienced such racial abuse. I felt humiliated.
Michelle Stewart, defending, said it was a “thoroughly unpleasant incident” which Galsworthy had accepted responsibility for.
She said:
He is very, very sorry for the words and behaviour he used. It was borne of a misunderstanding.
Ms Stewart read out a letter from the defendant, where he expressed remorse for his behaviour towards the staff member.
The defence added that the 39-year-old had been struggling with his mental health.
Magistrates sentenced Galsworthy to a 12-month community order, which includes 20 rehabilitation activity days.
He was also excluded from entering the Co-op store on King Edwards Drive.
Magistrates also fined Galsworthy £120 and ordered to pay a victims’ surcharge of £114 and compensation of £250 to the victim.
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