Luke Harper and Jake Christopher's action 'brought shame on the community'
A PAIR of Swansea brothers who were part of a gang who racially abused and threatened a Bangladeshi-British family and threw objects at them — forcing them to leave their home — have been jailed.
A judge said Wales had a proud tradition of welcoming people who came to live here, and that Luke Harper and Jake Christopher had brought shame on their community of Pontarddulais.
Swansea Crown Court heard the family in question had been subjected to abuse from some people in the town ever since they had moved to the area from Birmingham, and had now moved away.
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, said that on June 27 a group of five males — four in their late teens or early 20s and an older man in his 40s — gathered outside the victims' house on Dantwyn Road and began shouting racist abuse towards those inside, a father, mother and their three children.
The group swore and screamed racist obscenities at the family and told them to "go home" and "go back to Saddam Hussein land" before arming themselves with metal bars, a car exhaust and stones.
Mr Pulling said that the sons of the family went outside to try to prevent the group from entering their property, and were "goaded" by the gang who then threatened to burn their house down.
The court heard that the police were called but, acting on information from people in the street, initially arrested some of the victims rather then the perpetrators.
Harper, aged 22, of Heol-y-Coed in Pontarddulais and 18-year-old Christopher — who has also lived in Heol-y-Coed as well as Heol-y-Maes — had both previously pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence when they appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Mr Pulling said the victims had been subjected to racist abuse from some members of the community since moving into the house in the "quiet and seemingly respectable area" two years ago — including having a dead rat with a racist note attached put through their letter box — and had now left the town for good.
Judge Paul Thomas QC said the behaviour of the group on that day had been "utterly disgraceful".
He told the siblings: "Wales has a proud history of making people who come to live here from elsewhere feel welcome.
"All right-thinking people will be shocked by what you got up to that day. It is, in short, a scene that brought shame on the community."
There were sobs and cries from the public gallery as judge sent both defendants down for 30 weeks.
The judge added that the police would be "failing in their duty" if they did not try to identify and catch the other three members of the group.
Read more: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Swansea-brothers-gang-racially-abused-family/story-28391758-detail/story.html#ixzz3uij66SbV
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