A MAN who subjected police to racial abuse and was too drunk to gain access to a court building has been jailed for 15 months.

David John Lawrence made foul comments towards a constable and community support officer in two separate incidents.

Lawrence, aged 39, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Tuesday, November 10, to be sentenced for the public order offences, failing to surrender to custody, theft by finding of a phone and wallet, and two fraudulent uses of bank card.

On September 25, when the defendant was due at a hearing at the same court, he failed to appear.

Prosecuting, Simon Goodman said Lawrence attended the court car park but was too drunk to be allowed in. The defendant was refused entry into the building due to his level of intoxication.

A warrant was issued and a hearing went ahead on October 12 where he admitted failing to appear the previous month.

The defendant breached suspended sentence orders that had been issued in October 2018 and April 2019 with his crimes this year.

In relation to the public order offences, Mr Goodman said officers were called to what was believed to be a domestic incident in the open air in Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, on June 22.

“As the defendant was arrested by officers he was uncooperative,” said Mr Goodman.

While being detained he made a derogatory comment to one of the uniformed officers.

A week earlier, Lawrence, of Holdenhurst Road, again made racists remarks when police were in the vicinity.

The theft by finding involved the defendant taking a bank card and phone, which someone else had stolen, from a bench in Christchurch Road, Boscombe, on July 3. He used the card to buy items in two shop transactions totalling £33.97 and £35.84.

Mitigating, Rob Griffiths said: “The problem with this man quite simply is alcohol.”

The barrister said this started when he was aged 16 and working in the catering business with a manager who was a heavy drinker.

“It spiralled out of control,” said Mr Griffiths. “At one point he managed a restaurant in Westbourne.”

Since the theft by finding offence, Lawrence found another bank cards in a small case but on this occasion he return them to their owner after discovering a contact number among the cards.

While remanded in custody, Lawrence, who admitted all charges, had started to make inroads against his alcohol problem, Mr Griffiths said.

Judge Stephen Climie said the defendant was an “intelligent man”, who showed he could do good having not unlawfully used the cards he found in the case.

However, the judge implemented the suspended sentences and handed consecutive immediate prison sentences for Lawrence’s crimes this year to deliver an overall period of 15 months behind bars.