A Crown lawyer also told the court he pointed at youths, all believed to be around 16 years old, and shouted: ‘Black Fenian Arab b******s’
18:56, 23 Jun 2026
Castle Place Belfast(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
A man has been jailed for spitting at a shop mannequin dressed in a Celtic football kit as part of an “appalling” sectarian and racist outburst in Belfast city centre.
Neil Henry, 32, also subjected a group of black teenagers and hospital staff to a tirade of offensive abuse.
At one stage he threatened to tie up a police officer and make him watch while his child’s throat was slit.
Imposing an eight-month sentence, District Judge Peter Magill declared: “This man ran the gamut of prejudice.”
Henry, of no fixed abode, admitted criminal damage and disorderly behaviour offences connected to events on June 19 this year.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard he began causing drunken disturbances outside a sports store on Castle Place.
PSNI officers called to the scene observed him spitting on the shop window where a mannequin was wearing a Celtic strip.
The defendant admitted having spat at the dummy, with a security guard also targeted.
As officers spoke to Henry he stated that he “f***ing hated Celtic” and declared himself “the biggest f***ing Rangers supporter”.
Despite warnings about his language in a public area where mothers and young children were present, the bout of swearing continued.
Henry also directed racial invectives at a group of up to seven teenagers in nearby Castle Junction.
A Crown lawyer said he pointed at the youths, all believed to be around 16 years old, and shouted: “Black Fenian Arab b******s.”
During the outburst he tried to take an umbrella from a passer-by, stating that he wanted to “whack on those black Arabs”.
As police brought him into custody he repeatedly called them “Fenians” and “f***ing b******s”.
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