A prolific lout subjected and elderly postmaster to appalling racist abuse inside his own shop.
Drunk Carl Needham, who was previously jailed for glassing an ex-girlfriend, shouted the offensive slurs at Rafaqat Ali, who has sadly since died, when he lost his temper inside his store in Benwell, Newcastle. A court heard that 34-year-old entered the post office and first said "make me leave" when he was asked to quieten down, forcing the victim to reply that he was "too elderly" to fight.
Mr Ali's response seemed to spur Needham into a deeper rage and he began shouting the racist abuse and shaking a perspex screen, which Mr Ali was stood behind. The police were called and Mr Ali shut the shop's shutters in order to keep Needham at the scene while officers arrived, prosecutors said.
