Racist Chesterfield woman wiped spittle on householder’s gate, court hears

Katie Havenhand, 39, refused to move as a homeowner tried to walk down her garden path – telling her “I was born here I can stand where I want”.

The disgraceful public scene - on Church Street North, Old Whittington, in December last year - unfolded when Havenhand’s victim returned to her house with her elderly mother and two dogs.

Prosecutor Daniel Wilshaw told Chesterfield Magistrates Court how a small child with Havenhand was climbing on the gate’s wire mesh – used to keep the victims’ dogs secured.

Mr Wilshaw said after being asked to get her child off the fence Havenhand said “I don’t understand you” as she leaned on the homeowners’ bin.

Then, “aggressive” Havenhand “licked both her hands and rubbed them on the metal fencing”.

The prosecutor said: “The complainant felt the defendant did this to make her and her mum feel intimidated.

"They got through the gate but the female continued to stand next to the gate – as they entered the property she said “I was born here and I can stand where I want.”

In a statement read out to the court the victim told how she now felt “paranoid” and only walked her dogs before and after school drop-off and pick-up times.

While her mother was “in fear of going to the gates to collect parcels”.

She said: “(Havenhand) made me and my mother feel like second-hand citizens. The behaviour of the female felt almost felt accepted – nobody challenged her.

"It made me realise this mentality and behaviour is still not challenged on our society.

"The female made me feel like I was not a British citizen because of mine and my mother’s complexion.”

Havenhand, of Ivy Close, Old Whittington, initially denied racially aggravated harassment but was found guilty after a trial. She was fined £923.

Michael Little from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Katie Havenhand made a deliberately hostile gesture to two people trying to get past her into their own home - then compounded this by making a racist comment towards them.

"That gesture in the midst of a pandemic, coupled with her unashamed racist remark showed that she was acting out of hostility towards the victims’ ethnic background.

"The CPS is dedicated to tackling all forms of hate crime and will not let this kind of abuse go unchallenged.

"The sentence uplift implemented by the court demonstrates the severity in which we treat such cases and hopefully provides some reassurance to the victim.”

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