'Foreigners' are a Racial Group

The use of the term ‘foreigner’ is a racial term when determining whether abusive language is racially aggravated abuse, according to the Court of Appeal.

The Court heard an appeal by Mr Philip Rogers against an 80-hour community service sentence imposed on account of his being convicted of using racially aggravated, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke violence. The Court heard that Mr Rogers had behaved aggressively towards three Spanish women, calling them ‘bloody foreigners’.

For the offence to be proved, the defendant must be shown to have demonstrated hostility to a person on the basis of his or her perception that the person is a member of a racial group. The argument turned on whether the definition of a racial group, in the relevant section of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, could include foreigners generally or whether the phrase had to refer to a group identifiable as belonging to a race by virtue of skin colour.

The presiding judges (who included the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls among their number) concluded that foreigners generally could be considered to be a racial group. In an earlier case, the court had found the use of the term ‘immigrant’ indicated a racial basis where the defendant had an Asian appearance and accent.

The appeal against sentence was dismissed.