A MAN has been fined for racially abusing his English probation officer as she had travelled into Wales from Birmingham.

Wesley Hardiman, 35, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to intending to cause harm or distress with racially aggravated language, when he appeared at Welshpool Magistrates Court.

Helen Tench, prosecuting, said that in June a probation officer went to Newtown Police Station to meet Hardiman outside, due to coronavirus restrictions.

The probation officer and Hardiman had never met before, but he walked away seemingly unhappy and called her a bureaucrat. The probation officer explained that she was there to help but he stood directly in front of the driver's door of her car and made eye contact described by Ms Tench as aggressive and intimidating.

Hardiman then became verbally abusive and told the probation officer to "go back to" where she came from, referencing her "Brummie" background. She felt Hardiman had taken a dislike to her because she was English.

In interview, Hardiman said he had taken issue because the probation officer had travelled from England into Wales, while he was not allowed to leave Wales under the Covid restrictions at the time.

A victim personal statement was read out to the court in which the probation officer said she had sought to de-escalate the situation, and had concerns about Hardiman approaching her at her place of work.

She added: "He appears to have been motivated by his dislike of the English."

Owain Jones, defending, said Hardiman, who had previously been jailed for harassing a probation officer, was a "frustrated figure".

He said: "He is frustrated with probation, he is frustrated with the legal process and system.

"He was frustrated at the apparent breach of lockdown, at a time when his freedom was severely restricted, others were travelling distances but it doesn't justify what he said."

Chair of the magistrates bench Nerys Jones fined Hardiman £250 and handed him a two-year restraining order not to go within 100 metres of Newtown's probation office.

He will also pay £85 costs and a £34 victim surcharge.