Woman who racially abused doctor has sentenced cut

The Essex Chronicle reports on the cut in the prison sentence of a woman who pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence after she launched a “torrent of abuse” at a medic.

Nicola Meechan, 37, was sentenced to four months’ in prison at Chelmsford Crown Court in May over the incident which happened on 10 April.

The court heard Meechan was arrested by police over a separate incident but when taken to Clacton Police station, officers called for an ambulance to tend to Meechan’s condition. Meechan was believed to be the “worse for drugs”. A medic who arrived at the station tried to treat Meechan with an injection to “calm her down” but Meechan reacted by launching an “expletive-ridden torrent of abuse” and called the medic a “P***”.

Meechan pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence and was handed a four month sentence but the London Appeal’s Court this week cut her sentence to four weeks.

Judge Gregory Dickinson QC, sitting with Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mr Justice William Davis on Tuesday, said Meechan used “deeply offensive words shouted at a person who was trying to help her”.

But he added, “There was in fact no evidence as to the ethnicity of this particular person nor about any adverse reaction.”

Meechan apologised for her behaviour and Judge Dickinson said  Meechan’s outburst was very brief and “not part of any pattern of behaviour of hostility based on race”.