Woman who racially abused diners at kosher restaurant gets suspended jail sentence

A woman who racially abused diners sitting outside a kosher restaurant in Central London after “binge drinking” has been given a suspended prison sentence after the judge said that she had exhibited “genuine remorse” and that she had a child for whom she is the sole carer.

Mary Clarke, of Camden, was filmed during an altercation outside Reubens restaurant in July last year. Footage showed Clarke aggressively accosting diners – shouting at them, throwing food in their direction and hurling a mobile phone onto the pavement.

Clarke pled guilty to two counts of racially aggravated harassment, one count of racially aggravated criminal damage and one count of racially aggravated common assault.

Things Clarke shouted at the diners included “baby killers”, “free Palestine” and “I’m from f***ing Ireland”. As reported by the Mail¸ the prosecutor also told the court Clarke had said that “I’m the only one saving babies these Jews are killing”.

The Defence said that Clarke had been “binge drinking” and that she was “under the influence of alcohol”.

As per the Mail, District Judge Sam Gozee told Clarke: ‘You targeted the cafe, clearly knowing that it was part of the Jewish community, and making comments of a distressing nature to those who were simply enjoying the cafe.

“This was a sustained attack. You caused distress to multiple persons who were present at the cafe, and as I’ve said, there was clearly an element of targeting.

“The offence was more serious because it was committed under the influence of alcohol. Your behaviour was a response to your consumption of alcohol, inhibiting your behaviour.”

However, the judge went on to say that Clarke was “clearly very genuine towards all the members of the public that were affected by your behaviour of the day”. He issued a custodial sentence of 25 weeks in prison due to the racist aggravation present in the offences, but suspended the sentence due to the fact that she is the sole carer for her child. She will be on probation for 12 months, required to follow an alcohol abstinence programme, and be fitted with a tag which will monitor whether she drinks alcohol.

The judge also ordered Clarke to pay £100 compensation to each of the victims of assault and £43.50 to the café to cover the cost of the items she damaged.