Man shouted racist and homophobic slurs at police after asking for help

A man who was jailed after his XL Bullies attacked a pet dog has been handed a further sentence after abusing police in Nottingham. John Pickering was having a "serious mental health situation" at the time he launched the tirade on May 23, 2023.

The 52-year-old had travelled from the northeast to try to find his mother in Nottingham, whom he believed was unwell. He arrived at the Central Police Station at the top of Maid Marian Way to ask police for help after being unable to locate her.

He used the external telephone box to speak to officers, but the line went dead, so two policemen came outside to speak to him. They told him it wasn't an emergency - at which point he began swearing at them before walking away from them.

But he walked into the road, endangering himself, and so the officers followed him, at which point he started swearing at them again. He then challenged one of them to a fight and was arrested for a public order offence.

While being transported to custody, he started using racist language against one of the officers, as well as spitting, using homophobic language and making threats. When he arrived at the custody suite, he kicked a different police officer.

Between being brought to court for the offences in Nottingham, Pickering was jailed for two years after his two XL Bullies savaged another dog on a beach, leaving it with serious injuries. Four people who tried to intervene also needed hospital treatment.

Pickering later pleaded guilty to the public order offences, racially aggravated intentional harassment, assaulting an emergency worker and disorderly behaviour when charged following the events in Nottingham. He appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Tuesday, October 22.

One of the officers who was victim to Pickering's insults told the court: “This incident has left me feeling disappointed and upset that this male stated these things in my line of duty."

Mitigating, James Turner KC said Pickering had been suffering with his mental health on the morning in question and now felt “horrified” at his behaviour.

But while Recorder James Bide-Thomas said he accepted Pickering had been experiencing a “parlous mental health situation” at the time, he added that a six-month prison sentence was inevitable as Pickering had launched “what can only be described as the most outrageous tirade of racist abuse” together with the use of homophobic language.