A man has been jailed after launching a drunken attack on a fellow tenant and subjecting him to racist abuse.

Bradford Crown Court heard how 33-year-old Martin Barker had drunk up to 25 pints of Guinness before assaulting Mohammed Islam.

Barker, of Cecil Avenue, Great Horton, Bradford, claimed he had found his neighbour rifling through a mailbox and went round to his flat to confront him.

Mr Islam, 32, told police Barker knocked on his door at 10.45pm on March 21 this year. When he opened it Barker started punching him in the face and pushed him down on to his bed, where he jumped on him.

Prosecutor Tahir Khan told the court: "Throughout the assault he claims the defendant was shouting: 'You black bastard, I'll kill you'.

"The assault lasted about ten minutes and the defendant continued to shout racist abuse at him."

Mr Islam managed to free himself and ran to a neighbour for help. He was later treated at Bradford Royal Infirmary for swelling and grazing around his left eye and cheekbone, and swelling to his hand.

Barker was jailed for six months yesterday after admitted a charge of racially-aggravated assault. He received a further ten months in jail after pleading guilty to assaulting his former girlfriend and to offences of obtaining goods by deception.

Mitigating, Timothy Stead said Barker believed Mr Islam had done something wrong and, although he used offensive words, the racist element was incidental to what was going on.

Judge James Barry told Barker the assault had been racially-aggravated in "the most minor way", but said the racial abuse had added to the brutality of the attack.

Speaking after the case, Mr Islam said the punishment handed out to Barker sent out the message that people could get away with racism.

He said: "The judge seems to be saying it wasn't a racist attack - what kind of message does that send out to offenders and their victims?

"Barker drank up to 25 pints because he was a coward who needed to pluck up the courage to attack someone of another race.

"He breached my privacy, shouted racist abuse at me and repeatedly punched me."

Mr Islam said since the attack he has been frightened to be alone and too scared to answer the door for fear of it happening again.

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