Bankers Draft Sheffield: Drunk punter racially abused barman at Wetherspoons pub after he was asked to leave

Prosecutor, Jennifer Pender, said the incident unfolded at the Bankers Draft pub in Market Place, Sheffield city centre on September 6, 2022 after defendant, Paul Wilson, was asked to leave by a member of staff.

The staff member went over to speak to Wilson, aged 59, after a member of the public reported seeing him urinate near to where he had been sat at the busy Wetherspoons venue.

“He [the member of staff] recognised the defendant who was not allowed to be served. He repeatedly refused to leave...he said: ‘I’m not going to leave because you’re a black b*****d,” Ms Pender said, adding that Wilson then repeated the racially-fuelled slur.

Wilson subsequently attempted to throw an ashtray at the member of staff, but missed, the court heard.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the member of staff said it was not the first time he had been racially abused in his role at the Bankers Draft, adding that he was left feeling ‘sad’ after the incident.

Wilson, of HMP Doncaster, was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, an offence of racially-aggravated harassment during the course of the hearing.

Annis Rowlands, defending, said Wilson does not have much of a recollection of the incident due to being ‘extremely intoxicated’.

He accepts it was wholly unacceptable behaviour,” Ms Rowlands said.

She told the court that Wilson is a serving prisoner at HMP Doncaster and is due to be released from his sentence today (Friday, March 3), adding that he ‘struggles with his eye sight’ and is on the ‘borderline of being registered blind’.

Ms Rowlands said Wilson has a medical appointment scheduled to address the deterioration of his eyesight, and was concerned he would not be able to keep it if he was sentenced to more time behind bars.

Despite claiming through his solicitor that he struggled to remember his offending behaviour, Wilson interrupted proceedings to tell the court he had been visiting the Bankers Draft for 12 years, and in that time had ‘never experienced’ the sort of treatment he received from the member of staff he went on to racially abuse.

Wilson also claimed he was not a ‘racial person’.

In response, district judge, Tim Spruce, said: “I don’t care about whatever’s happened, whatever your experience from staff at the Bankers Draft, you cannot just abuse staff."

He sentenced Wilson to 10 weeks’ custody, suspended for six months, and ordered him to pay £389.