Man handed conditional discharge for racist abuse of Asian police officer

The Huddersfield Examiner reports on the sentencing of a man who racially abused a female police officer who was carrying out a curfew check in line with her duties.

The local paper reports the unnamed female officer went to the home of John Moorhouse, 21, on 15 January 2016 to perform checks on a curfew order. Moorhouse at first refused to open the door and when he appeared he told her “F*** off f****g P**i, I want your badge number.”

The officer was left “shocked and distressed” by the abuse. The local paper notes that in her 10 years as an officer, she had been subjected to racial abuse throughout her career but that this incident “was the worst she’d experienced.”

The location of Moorhouse’s residence, in a multi ethnic area, raised concerns of the abuse being heard by the many Asian families and young children in the area.

Moorhouse was convicted of racially aggravated disorderly behaviour in abstentia and appeared before Kirklees magistrates’ court after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The court heard that Moorhouse and his brother had been on police bail for a long period of time and the frequent curfew checks, sometimes occurring three to four times a night, had contributed to the episode.

The court handed Moorhouse a 12 month conditional discharge saying there had “been some degree of provocation and disruption” which gave rise to the incident.