Teens deny racist assault
BOY, 17, AND GIRL, 16, ‘ORDERED BLACK TEENAGER TO KISS THEIR FEET’
TWO youths have denied physically and verbally abusing black teenagers in an incident that was caught on camera and shared online.
The 17-year-old boy and the 16-year-old girl appeared at Leeds Youth Court yesterday morning over the incident at Holmfirth Cricket Club on Tuesday.
One video of the incident shows the pair ordering a teenager to get on his knees and kiss the white boy’s shoes, which he eventually did.
It was posted online on Snapchat and Twitter and received more than 1m views, resulting in public outcry and huge support for the victim. More than £4,000 has been raised for him in a fundraiser.
Prosecutor Paul Ramsay said the male defendant told another black boy during the incident: “I will slap the 50 shades of black out of you pal.”
The
defendants, who cannot legally be named as they are youths, were produced from custody for a 20-minute hearing.
The boy, from Holmfirth, and the girl, from Huddersfield, both pleaded not guilty to racially aggravated assault in relation to the teenager.
The boy also denied using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour intending to and causing harassment, alarm or distress in relation to the second complainant.
A trial, which is expected to take a day, was listed for June 29 at the same court.
The defendants were granted bail on condition that they do not enter the HD9 postcode area.
In addition, they must not directly or indirectly contact the complainants and a number of witnesses in the case.
They were also given conditions on where they are allowed to live and sleep.
Neither of the defendants’ parents were present in the courtroom.