Burnley man subjected emergency workers to 'vile racist abuse'

Jason McKenzie, 38, appeared at Preston Crown Court on Thursday, November 30, where the court heard evidence from the prosecution and defence.

Warning: This article contains offensive language

The case was adjourned to Thursday, December 7, so Judge Ian Unsworth could further consider the punishment.

Opening the case, Eleanor Myers described the first incident, which happened on October 30, 2022, at around 7pm outside Royal Blackburn Hospital.

She said: “A security officer at the hospital was asked to attend.

"There, he saw the defendant wearing no top and presenting angrily, saying ‘leave me alone, I want to go home.’

“He spat at him, which landed on his arm. The defendant also said he would knock him out.

“Police officers attended at around 7.45pm. He was arrested and put into a police van. He was unsteady on his feet and slurring his words. He became verbally abusive and used racist language towards an officer.

“He told the officer to go back to Pakistan, which caused the officer to become upset.

“The defendant was interviewed and provided no comment.”

Ms Myers then went onto the second incident, which took place on December 11, 2022, at Airedale Hospital near Keighley, West Yorkshire.

She said: “The defendant was present, receiving treatment, and became abusive.

“He called a security guard a ‘P*** bastard’ and told him to go back to his home. Officers PC Khan and Ahmed attended and the defendant said ‘don’t come to me, I f*****g hate Asians.’

“PC Khan placed handcuffs on the defendant and he said he would headbutt her if she did not remove them. He then said he would tie her to a train track.”

McKenzie’s outburst was in full view of the public which caused them to become distressed.

One officer suffered a bruise to her knee as a result of McKenzie kicking out while they tried to detain him.

In interview, he denied being racist, saying he did not recall using racist language and that he had many Asian friends.

The third and final incident happened on October 11, 2023, in Barrowford.

Officers were called to a riverside location where they found McKenzie in the water, appearing intoxicated.

Ms Myers said: “He became violent, kicking out at PC Marsden and kicking PC Schofield in the stomach.

“He lunged towards PC Marsden, headbutting him in the nose. PC Marsden said the impact was not hard, but unexpected.

“He was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, where he called a PC Iqbal a ‘black b*****d monkey’ and said he should not be in this country.

“The defendant was interviewed and said he jumped into the river after dropping his phone in there.”

McKenzie did not recall abusing PC Marsden and denied being racist, though Ms Myers said this was captured on the police’s body camera footage.

Defending McKenzie, Richard English said his client felt a “deep sense of shame and disgust at the way he behaved and recognises he has let himself and others down.”

He added: “He is an alcoholic and he is unable to moderate his drinking. When he drinks, he drinks to excess.

"He says he cannot remember what happened on those occasions because he was drunk. While sober, he does not act in that way.”

McKenzie, of Wheatley Avenue, Burnley, pleaded guilty to five counts of assaulting an emergency worker, six counts of racially aggravated harassment, and one count of criminal damage relating to a broken wheelchair in the Airedale Hospital incident.

Passing sentence, Judge Unsworth said: “Public servants deserve better than they were subjected to. In many cases they were public servants simply trying to help.

“You issued serious threats towards officers and members of their family, and then you proceeded to use racist language.

“You told a security officer to go back to his home. Other officers attended and again you subjected them to vile racist abuse and threats.

“This case presents a challenging sentencing exercise. I am plainly of the view the custody threshold has been crossed in this case.”

McKenzie, who has previous convictions for assaulting an emergency worker, was sentenced to 12 months in prison.