Racist woman punched and spat at Westgate doorstaff during unprovoked attack

Gambian national Zermen Mendy threw the punch at the male, then hit a female before spitting with "full force" into the face of a third as they restrained her.

Appearing at Leeds Crown Court, she admitted three counts of racially-aggravated assault.

Prosecutor Richard Canning said that the 26-year-old had been on Westgate shortly before 10pm on August 1 when she approached a doorman outside Lobby bar and struck him in the face for no obvious reason.

She then ran from the scene pursued by other doorstaff and was heard shouting names at them.

When they caught up with her she threw another punch at one female during the struggle. Finally, she then spat in the face of another woman from a distance of around 30cm, which landed in the victim's mouth.

She was heard shouting that all white people are racists and are "scum", and during a police interview she told them she did not regret her actions.

The court heard that Mendy, of Queen Street, Wakefield, had one previous caution for battery dating back to 2014.

Mitigating, Glenn Parsons said that his client had been sorry for her actions that day, but he was interrupted by Judge Simon Batiste who said he did not see much remorse from her actions or in her pre-sentence review.

Mr Parsons said that Mendy had lived in the UK from an early age and had been educated here, saying her actions were "wholly out of character".

He said that Mendy had gone out that night with her mask on and became obsessed that other people were not wearing them, describing her behaviour as "irrational".

He added: "There are plainly some underlying mental health issues that she has not been willing to grasp."

Judge Batiste jailed her for four months and said: "The UK is a country which is usually and should be based on tolerance.

"For reasons difficult to understand you decided to assault someone. It was a wholly unprovoked attack. You ran away shouting abuse as you ran.

"The court must take a serious view on someone who behaves in that way.

"You made it clear that the reason you did this was for an entirely racist reason.

"Racial hatred of any sort is unacceptable."