Three employees who subjected a Muslim workmate to a 10-month campaign of racial harassment were each jailed for three years yesterday.
Phillip Skett, Sean Melaney and Lee McDermott, who worked at a Walsall roadworks depot, tried to force-feed Amjid Mahmood bacon, which is forbidden in his religion, the Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
They also placed a rucksack containing multi-coloured wires designed to resemble a bomb on top of Mahmood’s work locker, and set fire to his trousers. The bullying included racist comments.
Sentencing the men, Judge John Warner said their behaviour went beyond ‘horseplay’ and developed into a “campaign of deliberate bullying.”
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He said: “You humiliated him and the things you did to him were painful, hurtful, dangerous, and done with considerable thought.
“This behaviour was an appalling example of what can happen and its consequences. This sort of behaviour will not be tolerated in a civilised society, in the workplace or elsewhere,” he said.
