A BUILDING site foreman who racially abused an Asian ticket inspector and told him he must be an asylum seeker is facing jail.
Walter Squibb, 58, of Stavely Court in Hermon Hill, Wanstead, accused Network Rail worker Ishwurall Rampersad of living on benefits, in a torrent of abuse at Stratford station in east London.
Squibb, who already has a previous conviction for racial harassment, threatened to break the inspector’s legs if he tried to stop him forcing his way through the barriers during the incident, which was caught on CCTV.
The Tanzania-born construction worker was convicted of racially aggravated harassment after a trial at Blackfriars Crown Court.
Squibb, who has a serious heart condition, flew into a rage when his out of date rail ticket was rejected at the barriers after returning from a trip to horse racing in Folkestone, Kent on August 18 last year.
Mr Rampersad told the court: “He said ‘You Paki, you must be living on benefits, you must have a council flat.
‘You’ve taken all the jobs and women and you should go back to Birmingham, you must be an asylum seeker’.
“He then said if I tried to stop him he would break my legs.”
Squibb called Mr Rampersand and a colleague racists during his vile rant, the court heard.
And the abuse only stopped when he climbed over the barrier after Mr Rampersad had called senior staff to help him deal with the incident.
After being arrested, Squibb gave no comment during interviews with police, except to deny he had used any racial language.
Adjourning sentence until January 11, Judge David Richardson told him: “This is the sort of case for which you are liable to go to prison.
“It has, what we lawyers say, crossed the custody threshold.”
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