Racist thug who hurled abuse Polish mum is spared jail

A racist who hurled horrific abuse at a Polish mother while she shopped in Aldi with her children has been spared jail.
Darren Balaam, 47, was found guilty of using racially-aggravated threatening and abusive language against the woman who had been speaking her native language in Stevenage.
He swore at the victim, who wishes to be known only as Marta, before telling her to 'start speaking English' and just go back' to her home country.
Balaam, who lives in the Hertfordshire town, was back in court after receiving a 12-month suspended jail term in November for sending malicious texts and private photos to cause distress.
This week he was given an eight-week sentence suspended for 12 months, along with a restraining order banning him contacting his victim for two years.
Marta, who was with her children aged three and nine, said she had never experienced such abuse while living in the town for more than five years.
She said: 'I had just met my friend in the supermarket and we were having a conversation. This man passed by us and suddenly said: "Start speaking English".
'I said: "Excuse me?" He then swore at me twice and told me to go back to my country, making an offensive comment about me being Polish.
'I asked him: "What's your problem? Would you like to ask anything else about my country?" He said: "Just go back".
'I called for the manager and told them what was happening and my husband came over, and then he stopped shouting at us, but he carried on saying things quietly.'
Marta captured the tail end of the tirade of abuse on January 18 on a video using her mobile phone so she could report the incident to police.
Her astonishing footage clearly shows the lout, who was wearing a green Parka and red baseball cap, turning towards her and say: 'Just go back.'
The graphic clip then shows her asking him why he thinks it's OK to make such comments about her. The cocky man retorted: 'Freedom of speech.'
Marta added: 'He can think whatever he wants, but he can't upset my family and my children.
'Maybe he's quite scared and upset with everything happening with Brexit, making it easier for small-minded people to think such things.'
Marta, an assistant restaurant manager, went to school in London before returning to Poland. She then moved back to England for work.
'I've worked hard here and have a good job,' she said. 'Stevenage has always been a very welcoming place on the whole, that's what we decided to stay here.
'We want to live here because we really like this country and like the freedom of this country.'
Piotr Malecki, of Stevenage's Eastern European Association, branded the abuse an 'unprovoked, vicious, verbal, racist attack'.
Mr Malecki said: 'The whole situation is a terrible shock to our Polish community, especially that two children were also subjected to this nasty racist attack.
'Luckily, through enormous effort from the community members, sharing words and images on social media, we managed to identify an individual with his full name and his full address.
'We reported him to police in Stevenage. We'd like to take this opportunity to share our disappointment.'
He added: 'Unfortunately we have not had a very positive experience with reporting similar incidents to police in the past.
'Polish citizens who live in Stevenage are a very strong part of the local community and contribute to a very diverse and multicultural social landscape in our town.'
Neighbourhood police officer Sergeant Ali Beazley said: 'We take all incidents of hate crime very seriously and will always investigate where appropriate.
'People of all race and religion should be able to live in our town without fear of being abused.'