A man hurled bottles and racist abuse at his Asian neighbors before biting one

An Asian family was attacked and racially abused by a man who threw liquid from a bottle at passing cars in Fosse Road North, Leicester. The incident began at around midday on Thursday, June 8 last year, when Shane Astill, who lives in the street, stood in the middle of the road and shouted as he suffered from a drug-induced psychosis.

The Asian couple, who did not know Astill, 37, arrived back at their home in the street and Astill saw them and began hurling racial abuse at them, calling them an offensive term of at least six times before throwing the glass bottle at them. their. It landed at their feet and the woman rushed inside to retrieve her grown son as Astill approached the front garden.

Leicester Crown Court heard that as Astill got closer to the man, he became louder and was “flailing his arms” around. Astill, who already had 56 offenses on his record, including violence, dishonesty and drug possession, then picked up a bin and shouted: “I’m going to have you.”

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The son came out of the house and rushed towards Astill to keep him away from the front garden, but slipped as he tried to punch Astill and Astill headbutted him and then bit his ear. Prosecutor Sinjin Bulbring said: “She felt the defendant bite her left ear and the pain was described as ‘extreme’. He thought he was going to bite his ear off.”

After that, Astill left, but then returned and became aggressive towards the family again. Mr Bulbring said: “His behavior continued after the police arrived.”

After arresting Astill, officers from Leicestershire Police searched his home and found cannabis and amphetamines. In his interview with police, Astill was “angry and agitated” and had to be sent back to his cell, the court was told.

He later pleaded guilty to two counts of racially threatening behavior with intent to cause fear of violence, two counts of possession of Class B drugs and assault by beating.

Gary Short, representing Astill, said that after his time at the police station, Astill was taken to Leicester’s Bradgate Unit for treatment for drug-induced psychosis. He said that while his client has been incarcerated in the past, he is now drug-free, in a stable relationship and getting help.

Mr Short said: “Now might be the time to do something other than prison.” He said Astill had long struggled with class A drug addiction, alcoholism and mental health problems, but that the probation service report recommended he be kept out of prison because of his efforts to change his ways.

Judge Keith Raynor agreed. He told Astill: “You have a bad record. You were released from prison in October 2021 and have stayed out of trouble for some time.

“Your behavior today was disgusting and the racial language you used completely unacceptable. You walked into their garden – you weren’t just a nuisance on the street, you were trespassing on someone’s private property.

“But you are motivated to accept help. In the circumstances I have decided I can suspend the sentence.” The judge said that although Astill posed a risk to the public, there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation”.

Astill was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, along with a curfew from 2pm to 6am each day. The judge warned Astill that any breach of the suspended sentence order would be dealt with by Judge Raynor himself and that his “starting point” would be to activate the full 12-month sentence.