Racist threatened to stab on-air BBC radio host 'in revenge for Manchester bombing'

DEFENDANT WAS A PERSISTENT CALLER TO STATION

- By MARTIN NAYLOR

A RACIST sent a message to a BBC Radio Nottingham presenter threatening to “stab him 22 times in revenge for the Manchester Arena bombings”.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Michael James also used highly offensive racist language in the message, which was seen by station staff and show host Arun Verma.

The 57-year-old was then found to have deleted it against the terms of an order put in place for past sex offences for which he had been convicted.

And his barrister told the court that his client “can’t explain” exactly why he did what he did.

Imposing a 40-week jail term, Judge Rupert Mayo said: “Mr James, I accept your apology and I don’t think anybody but you can explain why you did what you did.