Co Antrim man wearing Liverpool FC top with 'Virgil' on it was shouting 'Get the foreigners out'

Details emerged at Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena, where Robert Daniel Rosbotham (39), of Seacash Drive in Antrim, admitted being disorderly in the Fountain Street area on August 3 this year.

A prosecutor told the court "anti-Islamic protestors planned to disrupt transport links across Northern Ireland with specific mention of Belfast, Bangor, Newtownabbey, Antrim, Carrickfergus and Larne".

She said protest activity was expected to last from noon to 2pm and "police intelligence suggested the objective was to bring the country to a standstill and use women and children at the front of these gatherings".

She said a policing operation was put in place at Fountain Street in Antrim and there were around 70-80 people involved in a protest, the majority of which were peaceful, however there were limited numbers getting involved with traffic, one of which was the defendant.

The prosecutor said police bodyworn camera footage showed the defendant behaving disorderly in the street. He was intoxicated on the road and was shouting and swearing on numerous occasions, "some of which were of a racist nature".

The defendant was pushed off the road by a police officer and the defendant, who was holding a Union Flag, shouted: "F*** the foreigners, f*** the peelers".

When shown footage at a later date the defendant apologised and said he had taken too much alcohol.

A defence barrister said the defendant is an "isolated individual" who has misused alcohol for many years and "that's how he got himself embroiled in this situation". He said the defendant was "certainly not one of the organisers". The barrister said the defendant told police he was "not a racist person" but was drunk and was "caught up in a crowd".

District Judge Nigel Broderick told the defendant: "I have great difficulty accepting a submission that you are not racist.”

He said the comments made by the the defendant "come from somewhere deep within you" and "alcohol is just the excuse".

The judge added: "Just because you drink doesn't make you start saying these words without some deeply held beliefs. Your actions and what you said was wholly unacceptable".

Judge Broderick said the only thing saving the defendant from immediate jail was a guilty plea and no relevant convictions.

The judge said a pre-sentence report said the defendant was unsuitable for Community Service or probation because Rosbotham said he had "chronic social anxiety". The defendant was given a four months prison term, suspended for three years.