2:25pm Tuesday 2nd February 2010
Two men were jailed today for joining a racist mob which terrorised a delivery driver and attacked his van.
Wayne Dickson and James Breslin were among a gang of thugs who insulted and intimidated Mohammed Safeer in Thornton Road, Bradford.
Mr Safeer was delivering newspapers at 2am when he was approached by the drunken group, opposite the School Green pub, on June 14, 2008.
Breslin used a bat or stick to smash the van’s headlight, the vehicle was rocked and newspapers scattered in the road, Bradford Crown Court heard.
Dickson, 24, of Springhead Road, Thornton, Bradford, was jailed for 12 months.
He told police he stood by laughing because he was drunk.
He was convicted by a jury of affray and racially-aggravated criminal damage.
Breslin, 39, of Old Road, Thornton, was locked up for nine months after pleading guilty to the offences.
Prosecutor Duncan Ritchie said Mr Safeer was taken to safety by a taxi driver.
The gang then turned on the nearby pub, forcing the licensee to lock the door. The court heard his wife feared for the safety of their family.
When the police arrived, the mob fled.
David McGonigal, Dickson’s barrister, said he felt regret and wanted to apologise to Mr Safeer.
Michael Reeves, solicitor advocate for Breslin, said he was deeply ashamed and had sought help to curb his drinking.
Judge Jonathan Rose branded it “appalling and disgraceful public disorder” by adults fuelled by drink.
He said Mr Safeer was a hard-working, decent man earning a living at anti-social hours.
“He was a vulnerable man going about his business who was exposed to whatever you chose to do to him,” said the judge.
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