Muslim-hater gets jail for racist abuse

An unemployed Dunedin man who said he hated Muslims has been jailed for 15 months for offences described by a judge as "extreme racial prejudice".

Paul William McNulty, 38, had behaved "in an appalling way", Judge John Macdonald said when sentencing him in the Dunedin District Court for offences committed in August.

Judge Macdonald said the offending began when McNulty racially abused a woman who was wearing a traditional Muslim headscarf at a bus-stop.

The woman took refuge in a nearby bookshop but McNulty followed her, continuing to abuse her in a low voice.

As he was leaving, he looked at her and spat on the floor.

McNulty later got on a bus to South Dunedin and sat behind a Muslim man. He said he hated Muslims and held his fist to the man's face.

The man stood up and asked to be left alone, but McNulty also stood, pushing the man and abusing him.

The man retaliated by punching McNulty and when the bus driver intervened, McNulty struck him.

Police arrested him and found a brass knuckleduster and a cannabis smoking pipe in his pocket.

McNulty was "extremely abusive and aggressive" in the police car and spat on the officer dealing with him and threatened to kill him.

The judge rejected McNulty's claim that he was not a racist.

McNulty was sentenced to 15 months' jail for threatening to kill, possessing the brass knuckleduster, assault and possession of the pipe. He was refused leave to apply for home detention and ordered to undergo anger management treatment.

- NZPA