A woman has been found guilty of racially abusing her New Zealand-born neighbour – by calling her an Australian.
Petra Mills called Chelsea O’Reilly a ‘stupid fat Australian’ during a drunken tirade outside her home.
The insult was witnessed by police officers who Mills herself had 
called after a domestic row with her husband. Czech-born Mills, 31, was arrested and charged with racially aggravated public disorder. She denied the charge but was found guilty at a trial this week.
Miss O’Reilly, 21, who has dual British and New Zealand nationality, told magistrates: ‘She called me a stupid fat Australian b****. Because of my accent there can be some confusion over my nationality.
‘She knew I was from New Zealand. She was trying to be offensive. I was really insulted.’
The incident happened in Macclesfield, Cheshire, on September 4 after Mills had been involved in a row with her husband, Michael. Iain Mutch, prosecuting, said Miss O’Reilly and Mills had been neighbours for 18 months when Miss O’Reilly heard banging and drilling.
He added: ‘There was screaming from Petra and a lot of running up and down the stairs before the front door slammed.’
Magistrates in Macclesfield were told Mills fled her home and called police from a phone box. When she returned, officers had arrested her husband, and were taking a statement from Miss O’Reilly. As the New Zealander spoke to police, Mills marched over and branded her a ‘stupid, fat Australian b****’.
Mills said: ‘Yes, I shouted at her but it had nothing to do with racism. I did not use the word “Australian”. I used to live with an Australian person. She was very nice.’
Trevor Feehily, defending, said the offence was motivated by Mills’s anger at O’Reilly’s ‘snooping’, not her nationality. But chairman of the magistrates bench, Brian Donohue, disagreed and told Mills: ‘You were in an emotional and inebriated state. The word “Australian” was used. It was racially aggravated.’
Mills also admitted assaulting a police officer by kicking him. She was fined £110 for racially aggravated public disorder and £200 for assault, and ordered to pay both victims £50 compensation and £500 court costs.
Article Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236307/Neighbour-guilty-racially-abusing-New-Zealand-born-woman-calling-stupid-fat-Australian.html
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