The victim of a racist attack in Bridport town centre described it as a 'nightmare she will never forget'.

The woman spoke as Daniel Joseph Lavery was jailed for the attack on the woman and her family.

As previously reported, Lavery, 39, shouted racist abuse and spat at the woman while swearing and telling the family they "should not be here" in an outburst in front of shocked onlookers in West Street.

The woman said the experience left her 'humiliated and scared for herself her husband, and her four children's physical safety, and the possibility of contracting Covid-19'.

Lavery, of South Walk, Bridport, was sentenced after admitting two charges of using threatening, abusive, insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of or provoke unlawful violence, one of which was racially aggravated.

Prosecuting, Siobhan Oxley, told Weymouth Magistrates Court the attack came as the family left Waitrose on the afternoon of September 11, 2020.

She said a security guard who witnessed the attack take place and rang the police, observed Lavery being drunk and swearing, calling the family "immigrants" and shouting "go back to your country".

He also said he saw Lavery eating Pringles, chewing and spitting them at the woman and her family.

In a victim statement read to the court, the woman, who is from the Philippines but now lives in the UK, said she had visited Dorset to spend time with her family before some of her children went back to university.

“Dorset is one of our favourite destinations and this wasn’t our first visit there," she said.

However, she went onto describe how this visit was "a nightmare we can’t forget for the rest of our lives."

She said: "In our 16 years living in the UK this is the first time any of us have experienced racism to this degree."

The woman said the incident "traumatised me significantly" and said she had suffered sleepless nights.

She added: “I would like justice for myself and my family. No one deserves to be treated like this.”

Mitigating, Ian Brazier, said Lavery cannot remember the incident or what he said as he was so drunk.

He said: “He wants (the family) to know he is not a racist and does not feel strongly, if at all, about people who were not born in this country.

“He can’t explain it, he can’t defend it. He can just say that at the time he had been drinking a lot."

Mr Brazier said that Lavery had struggled with substance abuse for many years and had used alcohol in the past as a way "to shove other substance use habits out of his life". He told the court that Lavery struggled with his mental health but had since cut down on alcohol.

Mr Brazier said: “The reason he fell completely off the wagon was because he had lost a close friend to him who had died quite suddenly. Mr Lavery and his friends had been toasting their farewells and he had far too much to drink.

“He wants to say that he is very sorry about what took place.”

Mr Brazier read out a statement from Lavery’s mother, who said: “I have never known Danny to be racist. It would not have happened had he not been drinking."

Police liaised with the Dorset Race Equality Council as part of the court process and it provided a statement to be considered by the magistrates adjudicating on the case.

Lavery was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison and was ordered to pay £100 compensation to the victim as well as a contribution of £150 to court costs.

Following the case, Neighbourhood Inspector Darren Stanton, of West Dorset police, said: “This was an extremely distressing incident for the victims who are residents of this country and came to visit Bridport to experience what the town has to offer.

“Due to the small minded actions of one individual, their experience will have been an extremely negative one that is likely to have left them will feeling shocked, angry and upset."