A MAN who went on a racist wrecking spree just days after September 11 has escaped jail.

Paul Greenwood, 24, of South Street, Barnoldswick, pleaded guilty to three counts of racially aggravated criminal damage on September 16 at Burnley Magistrates Court.

Greenwood was sentenced to 180 hours community service, ordered to pay £1,500 compensation and £100 in costs .

The court heard how Greenwood went on a racist wrecking spree in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

Police investigating the case were led to an address where they found Nazi literature, a pair of tights made into a balaclava and a tin of paint after racist graffiti was daubed on a house and a car.

Both belonged to Asian residents.

Greenwood daubed racist graffiti on a house belonging to an Asian resident in Lower Rook Street, Barnoldswick, and a car in nearby Fountain Street just five days after the September 11 terrorist attacks which killed thousands of people and left the world stunned.

The court heard how Greenwood went into the town armed with terracotta coloured paint and targeted the homes of three Asian families, spraying a house and car with swastikas and other racist slogans.

Police investigating the incident later found half a tin of terracotta emulsion, Nazi literature and tights made into a balaclava and a towel with paint on it at a Lower Rook Street address.

After speaking to the occupants they were directed to South Street where they found Greenwood.

A second defendant, Rowan Gane of Lower Rook Street, Barnoldswick, was discharged last month.