Man jailed over racist graffiti daubed on Salford flat

The graffiti attack was described by police as a "cowardly and spiteful act"

A man who daubed "no blacks" on the door of a family home, leaving a 10-year-old boy "terrified", has been jailed.

Vaughan Dowd, 54, vandalised the front door of Jackson Yamba's home in Salford, five days after they had had moved in.

Dowd, of Irlam Square, Salford, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to racially aggravated criminal damage.

Jailing him for 12 months, a judge told him it was an "outpouring of racism".

Manchester Crown Court heard Mr Yamba, 38, had moved into the same block of flats as the defendant in Irlams o' th' Height, Greater Manchester, in February.

The same graffiti was also daubed on an internal communal door and the entry door to the block of flats.

The graffiti was painted on three doors at the block of flats

As Mr Yamba left home to take his son David to school, they saw the graffiti and the boy became tearful. The attack has left him fearful and angry, Mr Yamba said.

Judge Alan Conrad QC told the defendant: "This country, in particular... Salford and Manchester have a long and proud history of diversity and inclusivity.

"We welcome those who, having a right to come here, do so and when they do, lead decent and productive lives.

"What you did was not welcome in any civilised society."

He added: "This was simply an outpouring of racist views held by you for which there is no excuse."

Iain Johnstone, defending, said Dowd, a self-employed gardener, "maintains he's not racist".

"It appears what happened ... in some way Brexit and immigration was playing on his mind."

Mr Yamba welcomed the sentence, saying it reflected the seriousness of the offence but he did not think it was about Brexit, "just racism".

He said: "What's Brexit have to do with it? People can debate about it."

Mr Yamba said despite support from locals since the attack, he is considering leaving Greater Manchester.

Supt Marcus Noden, from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), described it as a "cowardly and spiteful act", adding there was "no place for this kind of hatred in Manchester or anywhere else".

He said: "No one should be subjected to this kind of abuse, especially in their own home."

The attack only came to light after Mr Yamba, who came to the UK from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, tweeted a photo of his front door after he reported it, complaining police had not been to see him about it.

It led to Dowd's arrest and an apology from GMP Chief Constable Ian Hopkins.

Dowd was caught on CCTV and by police checking key-fob entries to the block.

He has now lost his tenancy at the housing association flats where he had lived for 25 years.