Man convicted of hate crime in Staines

A man from Staines has been convicted of hate-related offences at Guildford Magistrates Court, after he used racial slurs to verbally assault a parking attendant.

Osanda Hannadeige, 28, of Elizabeth Avenue in Staines-upon-Thames, was sentenced on Wednesday, 7 September, after verbally and racially abusing a parking attendant on Church Street, Staines, on Friday 25 March. He also knocked the parking machine out of the attendant’s hands, damaging it in the process.

At court Hannadeige pleaded guilty to:

•            Racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment

•            Racially/religiously aggravated common assault

•            Racially/religiously aggravated criminal damage

At sentencing he was given an 18-month community order, ordered to attend a thirty-day rehabilitation programme and complete 150 hours of unpaid hours.

Inspector Maxine Cilia, Spelthorne Borough Commander, said: "We work closely with our partner agencies and support them in their day to day business. Hate crime is a Surrey Police priority and this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated towards anyone in the community, let along those who are providing a community service and simply going about their daily business." 

Cllr Richard Barratt, Chair of the Neighbourhood Services and Enforcement Committee, said: “Our officers should not come to work to be abused and the fact one of our staff was racially abused disgusts me. Spelthorne is a welcoming borough and discriminatory behaviour will never be welcome here. This Council will always take a zero tolerance policy towards staff abuse and we will work with police to ensure the law is upheld. I thank our partners at Surrey Police for their work on this case and bringing it to court.”