Drunk man was racist towards police while accusing them of racism

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A drunk man swearing at police and accusing them of being racist towards him has been convicted of racism himself. A member of the public had called Leicestershire Police after seeing Erik Gregor asleep in his car at the side of a road in Leicester in September last year.

When the officers arrived and woke him up, 26-year-old Gregor swore at them and also called them "English racists". He was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in charge of a vehicle but at a police station he refused to give a breath sample.

At Leicester Magistrates' Court on Thursday (January 30) he pleaded guilty to causing racially-aggravated harassment, alarm or distress. The court heard he had previously been in court to admit failing to provide a specimen, which had resulted in a community order with 160 hours unpaid work.

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The racism offence had taken longer to get to court because the police had to run it past the Crown Prosecution Service before charging Gregor. The police are able to prosecute driving offences without consulting prosecutors first and that offence was dealt with back in October last year.

Prosecutor Sukhy Basi told the magistrates: "The defendant was abusive towards the police officers who had been made aware the defendant was asleep in his car.

"It became apparent he was drunk in charge of the motor vehicle. The incident was caught on camera by the police bodycam. He made no comment in his police interview. The officer said the defendant was aggressive. The officer said he didn't need this abuse when he was doing his job."

Kulveer Tind, representing Gregor, of Huntingdon Road, Northfields, Leicester, said: "He's extremely remorseful. He was going through a difficult period. He was going through a divorce and losing his job." He said his client was on Universal Credit and getting about £550 per month.

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Mr Tind asked the magistrates to issue a stand-alone compensation order and leave the current community order running, which he said his client was doing well with. He said that if the racism offence had been in court along with the failure to provide a specimen charge back in October the punishment would probably not have been any greater.

The chair of the bench, Elizabeth Needham, told Gregor: "It's a pity it happened, really. When people are doing a public duty to help us in the community they shouldn't have to put up with that."

Gregor was ordered to pay £100 compensation to the police officer.