A MAN shouted a racist slur at a curry delivery driver, swung a wooden pole at him and had to be restrained by police using CS spray after a dispute over payment, a court was told.

John Campbell turned on the driver after his brother had refused to pay for a meal he had ordered a couple of days earlier.

Siobhan Collins, prosecuting at Worcester Magistrates Court, said delivery driver Haroon Ghalib had delivered a curry to Campbell’s brother’s address in Mulberry Terrace, Tolladine, Worces-ter, but there was an issue with the payment, so Mr Ghalib agreed to return later.

When he went back two days later, again his brother said he couldn’t pay, and Campbell then came to the door.

Ms Collins said this is when things became fraught.

“Mr Ghalib was grabbed, at first as if his hand was being shook, but then as if he was being pulled into the house,” she said.

The delivery driver got away and ran towards his car but Campbell, aged 35, of Randwick Drive, Blackpole, Worcester, shouted at him, asking if he wanted a fight, and picked up a wooden pole.

“Campbell swung at him with the stick but it missed him, connecting with the wing mirror and it smashed,” Ms Collins said.

Mr Ghalib called the police and when they arrived they smelled alcohol on Campbell’s breath.

Campbell swore and shouted a racial slur at Mr Ghalib.

As police tried to arrest him they had to use CS spray and their baton so they could restrain and hand- cuff him as he had by this time retreated into his brother’s house and refused to look at officers.

“The officers said they believed he was unpredictable and a threat,” Ms Collins said.

Campbell, who had at a previous hearing denied the charges, admitted the charges against him of causing damage to the mirror, resisting arrest and using threatening and abusive language and behaviour which was racially aggravated.

Barry Newton, in mitigation, said Campbell had suffered from meningitis as a child, which had in turn caused serious medical issues as an adult, including learning difficulties, depression and anxiety.

Mr Newton said while Campbell had admitted the damage to the car and shouting the racially aggravating words, the reason he had not responded to the police officers was because he had “retreated into his shell”, which is why he then wouldn’t look at them or react to what they were saying.

Magistrates ordered a pre-sentence report to be compiled and Campbell was released on conditional bail and ordered to return to court on Wednesday, January 14.