Kebab shop boss not guilty of racial abuse
Sheriff did not believe chips complaint witness
A Stirling takeaway owner was this week cleared of racially abusing a building firm executive who complained about his chips ‘n’ cheese – after a sheriff said he did not believe a key prosecution witness.
Kebab shop boss Suneer Ookayal had been accused of becoming “very angry and erratic” and hurling a tray of chips across the shop after Neil Parry, design director at developers Persimmon Homes, protested about a problem with his endof-night snack.
Mr Parry (48) told Stirling Sheriff Court his chips “looked as if they had been cooked about three times” and once his fork was through the melted cheese topping, it would go no further.
He claimed when he asked for a new portion, Mr Ookayal shouted and swore at him, took the fork off him, broke the fork, and threw the chips across the shop.
He also claimed that when he asked for a refund, Mr Ookayal refused and swore at him.
Motor trader Matthew Reid (56) a friend of Mr Parry, said he was standing at the doorway of the takeaway eating his own portion of chips when he witnessed Mr Ookayal “going off his head”.
When the trial resumed on Monday, after being adjourned last week, Police Constable Mark Armstrong said he had been on mobile patrol near Ookayal’s shop, Taste Budz, next door to the Fubar nightclub in Stirling, when he was flagged down by Mr Parry at about 2.30 am.
PC Armstrong (42) said Mr Parry had been drinking, but wasn’t drunk.
He added: “He said there had been some disagreement between him and a member of staff about chips, the member of staff had made a comment to him of a racial nature, and he wanted to make a complaint about it.”
PC Armstrong said he was then approached by Mr Reid, who said he had been in the shop and heard the comment.
Prosecutor Laura Knox asked: “Did he say if he knew Mr Parry?”
PC Armstrong replied: “He claimed not to know him.
“I asked if he had been with the other gentleman and if he knew him, and he said no, he’d just been in the shop.”
After PC Armstrong’s evidence, which contradicted evidence last week from Mr Parry and Mr Reid that they did know each other, Mrs Knox, the depute fiscal, said the Crown would no longer be seeking a conviction.
Summary sheriff James MacDonald told Mr Ookayal he was not guilty and free to go.
He said: “The Crown say they are no longer seeking a conviction in this matter.
“I should say, even if the Crown had sought a conviction I would have rejected the evidence of Mr Reid, and there would therefore have been insufficient evidence in the case.”
Mr Ookayal, of Ivanhoe Place, Stirling, denied raciallyaggravated disorderly behaviour during the incident on January 28 this year.
Virgil Crawford, defending, suggested Mr Parry had been trying to get something added to his food for free.
In June, Mr Ookayal said he had been, in fact, the target of many instances of racial abuse, which he said had become more frequent since recent terrorist attacks.
He told the Observer at the time: “I would say we get it around five times each week. It’s common to me now and it’s getting worse.
“They want someone to blame for what has happened in London and Manchester and they are picking on people because of their skin colour.”
“I now feel as if I’m not safe.”