STORY
A married couple have admitted racially abusing an NHS nurse in a Halifax park after a confrontation, filmed on a mobile phone, spread widely online and drew fresh condemnation of racist harassment in public spaces. Fyona Bairstow, 72, and Michael Bairstow, 77, appeared at Bradford Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to racially aggravated offences linked to the incident at Manor Heath Park last August, when nurse Apple Moorhouse asked them to control their dog after it frightened her young daughter, the court heard.
Footage of the encounter captured the pair directing racist remarks at Ms Moorhouse, with Michael Bairstow also throwing water at her and making taunts about migrants, while Fyona Bairstow was described as grabbing her arm and phone and pulling her hair as she tried to leave. The case has sparked anger not just because it targeted a healthcare worker but because it showed racism as a sustained, deliberate attempt to intimidate and demean. Ms Moorhouse said she was left traumatised and fearful after the attack and and the couple were released on bail pending sentencing.