Racist thug blames attack on 'too much free time'

8:30am Sunday 12th October 2008

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TWO racist thugs have been handed criminal ASBOs on top of jail sentences for assaulting immigrants.

Christopher Crewe, aged 22, of Harcourt Close, in Birchwood and 21-year-old Joseph Murphy, of Willis Street, each received five-year criminal ASBOs at Warrington Crown Court on Monday before the Recorder of Chester, Elgan Edwards.

The pair, wearing tracksuits and sporting crew cuts, hollered and waved at their families as they were taken to the cells.

Sion Ap Mihangel, prosecuting, told the court that at 10.30pm on September 16, 2007, Crewe and Murphy verbally and physically assaulted a Polish man outside his home in an unprovoked and drunken attack.

Both men had denied involvement in the violent attack but later pleaded guilty.

Crewe, who has eight convictions for 29 offences since 2003, including burglary, theft and being drunk and disorderly, was also heard to have committed another racial attack while drunk last November 2.

It was alleged he had been waiting outside a shop on Willis Street for a woman trying to buy beer. A confrontation broke out when Crewe refused to hand the beer back to the shop assistant.

Mr Ap Mihangel said Crewe had punched the Pakistani shop owner and his Sri Lankan assistant repeatedly while shouting racial slurs.

Crewe, whose girlfriend is pregnant, had initially denied the allegations, saying he could not remember what he had been doing.

Simon Leong, defending Crewe, said: “These are the first racially aggravated incidents on his record.

“He said his offending was due to too much free time and drinking too much.”

Crewe, who had also breached a community order by only completing four hours out of 200 in several months, was jailed for two years and four months.

Murphy, who has four convictions for six offences since 2004, including criminal damage, common assault and being drunk and disorderly, was jailed for two years.

The court heard on May 8, Murphy was caught in possession of two knives and had threatened to ‘slash’ the manager of a pub he had been asked to leave for being drunk and abusive.

Simon Berkson, defending Murphy, said: “He has good in him. He has had a difficult upbringing, especially in school.”