Elderly couple in UK who abused Pinay nurse jailed for eight weeks
An elderly couple in the UK has been sentenced to jail after being found guilty of a racially motivated assault against a Filipina nurse.
In a report by BBC, Michael and Fyona Bairstow, aged 77 and 72 respectively, will remain behind bars for eight weeks after they were caught abusing British-Filipino citizen Apple Moorhouse at a park.
Chairwoman of the bench, Gill Arnold, said the punishment was warranted given the seriousness of the offense and the presence of children during the incident. Apart from this, the couple were also ordered to pay £175 (P14,097) each to Moorhouse.
The case took place at Manor Heath Park, Halifax, in England last August. Moorehouse was at the area with her daughters, aged 11 and 6, and her visiting parents when she told Michael to leash his dog, who had gone up to her younger daughter and started barking.
A video that went viral online showed the elderly couple then becoming physically and verbally aggressive toward Moorhouse, who was, then, working as a nurse for the National Health Service.
When she confronted Michael about his dog, she said the man told her, "Shut up, f—k off, and go back to where you came from on the dinghy boat."
In one of the clips, Fyona could also be heard laughing at Moorhouse's father, telling him, "You can't even speak English."
To Moorhouse, she said, "As for you, do you know what you are? That is what we call slavery," referring to the healthcare worker's job.
The altercation escalated to the point that Michael told his dog to "get her, kill" before picking up a dog bowl full of water and throwing it at her. As Moorhouse tried to walk away, Fyona pulled her backwards by her ponytail.
The Bairstows' lawyer, Raza Hussain, said that the couple have pled guilty to racist assault and that they "fully accept the racial language they used was wholly inappropriate, which they deeply regret," per BBC.
"The fact that this incident was circulated widely on social media and on national news has brought them significant embarrassment," he added.
In an interview with reporters after the case was settled, Moorhouse said that it was a "clear message" that "racism is not acceptable."
"Hopefully it will send a clear message that racism is a crime," she stressed.
Despite the couple's actions towards her, she admitted that she did not expect the Bairstows to receive jail time, saying, "I can't say I'm glad about it, I feel sorry for them."
