Dundee takeaway manager speaks out on “non-stop” racist abuse of staff

The manager of a Muslim takeaway in Dundee at the centre of a recent hate crime trial has said incidents of racist abuse had been “non-stop” following the Paris attacks in November 2015.

Mohammed Irfan Nazir, 21, manager of the Curry Junction takeaway shop spoke to the local paper, the Evening Telegraph, following the sentencing of Joel Justice at Dundee Sherriff Court this week.

Justice was handed a community sentence after pleading guilty to acting in a racially aggravated manner intended to cause alarm and distress. Justice had walked into the Curry Junction on 29 April to order food and racially abused the waiting staff, Rifa Nezir and Rehan Khan, telling them to “go back to your own country.”

Justice referred to the men as “P****” and told them “You treat your women like slaves.”

Mr Nazir told the local paper that he was happy with the outcome of the case saying “The important thing is that my staff feel safe at work, which is why I phoned the police at the time.”

“I’m glad I was there to sort it and happy that the court has dealt with it,” he added.

Mr Nazir said alcohol induced racist insults were common in the shop and that after the Paris attacks last November, such incidents had been “non-stop”.

He said, “Sometimes people are rude and aggressive.

“After the Paris attacks last year it was non-stop. People can be racist.

“Sometimes it’s because of alcohol and that’s a lot harder to judge. What the guy was saying was not necessarily what he believes.”

Police Scotland reported a spike in Islamophobic incidents after the massacre in Paris on 13 November with 64 racial and religious hate crimes reported one week on from the Paris attacks.