A man has been sentenced after a court found his threats or abuse to be racially aggravated.

Mark Daniel Nodwell used threatening or abusive words or behaviour "likely to cause a person within hearing or sight harassment, alarm, or distress", in Watford on May 2, 2020.

The 33-year-old had initially denied the charge on December 15, 2020, but he changed his plea to guilty during an appearance in St Albans Magistrates Court on March 29, this year.

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He was then sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 compensation.

Nodwell, whose address is listed as the probation office in Basildon, was not ordered to pay costs due to limited means and was not ordered to pay a victim services surcharge because compensation was deemed the priority.

The court found that the offence was racially motivated.

He also changed his plea in relation to two more charges for the same offence on the same day, one in Hatfield and a second offence in Watford.

No separate penalty was given for these.