A 23-YEAR-old Bradford man has been spared jail after admitting a racially aggravated assault in which he threw stones and punches at a Polish man.

Joseph Taylor targeted Miroslaw Alich, Bradford Crown Court heard, after Mr Alich picked out Taylor’s younger brother from mobile phone footage of a gang of youths throwing stones at his house.

In response Taylor and three other men attacked the Polish man, one using a metal bar, in an incident on July 31 last year.

Nicoleta Alistari, prosecuting, told the court that Taylor had punched Mr Alich three or four times in the face and then had thrown a large stone through the rear window of Mr Alich’s Toyota car, while another man used a metal bar to smash one of the passenger windows.

Even after Mr Alich returned to his home in Bierley, Taylor caught up with him, she added, throwing more stones at him and shouting “You Polish bastard” at him.

Mr Alich suffered bruising to his face, as well as cuts and bruises to his arm and legs.

Taylor pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault and affray on the day of trial in March.

He also pleased guilty to attempted theft and assault occasioning actual bodily harm relating to a later incident on September 15, in Burnham Avenue in Bierley.

Ms Alistari detailed how Taylor had deliberately bumped into Darryl Redgrift and demanded first money, then his mobile phone, before punching him.

Mr Redgrift later recognised Taylor from Facebook and alerted the police.

Stephen Wood, for Taylor, formerly of Warton Avenue, Bierley, spoke of a difficult childhood in mitigation: “What he has experienced and what he has witnessed, both are traumatic indeed and have led to a psychiatrist to conclude that his personality has developed along abnormal lines.”

He added that the psychiatrist believed there was hope and recommended a specific program for his issues.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, handed Taylor a 15 month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered that he complete up to 50 rehabilitation activity days to help address his psychiatric issues.

He said: “If I sentence him into custody, nothing good will come of it.”

A restraining order, preventing contact with Mr Alich and his wife for five years, was also imposed.