A hairdresser who told a taxi driver I dont like blacks and damaged his cab by running on to the bonnet has been spared jail.
Matthew Feeney (28) hurled abuse and damaged the taxi in a violent, drink-fuelled episode during one of his first nights out after lockdown.
Dublin District Court heard Feeney had worked in a top London salon but had returned to Ireland after a relationship breakdown and had been forced to move back in with his parents.
Judge Marie Quirke said Feeneys behaviour had been reprehensible but spared him a criminal record after he paid 600 in compensation and wrote a letter of apology to the taxi driver.
He had been racist in his demeanour to a member of society and she found this to be very reprehensible behaviour.
She dismissed the case under the Probation Act, leaving him without convictions.
Feeney, of Cormac Terrace, Terenure, Dublin, pleaded guilty to criminal damage, public intoxication, and using threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour and violence in a garda station.
The court heard the taxi driver called in to Rathmines Garda station at 12.20am on June 4 this year. He said a passenger, the accused, would not pay a fare. Gardaí went to Rathgar Road where they found Feeney in a highly intoxicated state.
He eventually paid the fare but as the taxi driver left, Feeney became abusive and said: I dont like blacks, you are all pigs.
He ran on to the bonnet and windscreen of the taxi, causing damage, and was arrested. He continued to be abusive in the Garda station and physically resisted officers.
The accused had no previous convictions.
Feeney apologised for what was a once-off, isolated incident, his barrister said.
He had been cooped up in his house due to the pandemic after returning from London, where he worked in a top hairdressing salon, she said.
He was exceptional in his field and had competed abroad.
The incident happened on one of his first nights out after lockdown and he by no stretch covered himself in glory.
He had since gone to a therapist and displayed a commitment to ensuring that this behaviour never happens again, the lawyer said.
If he could, he wishes he could take it all back, she said.
He promises he will never be in trouble again.