A 22-YEAR-old man, arrested in Durham, has appeared before Blackburn magistrates charged with a racially aggravated assault dating back to 1997.

Craig Hamilton, of Whitworth Country Park Hotel, Spenymoor, Durham, failed to attend court when the case was due for committal to Preston Crown Court in June 1997.

Neil Standage, prosecuting, applied for a remand in custody so committal papers could be served but the magistrates granted conditional bail.

Conditions imposed were provision of a £20,000 surety by his father Geoffrey Hamilton, a director and majority shareholder in the Whitworth County Park Hotel, a condition of residence at the hotel, reporting to the police in Spenymoor three times a week and surrender of his passport.

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