Magistrate relieved of duties for calling racist vandals 'scum'

A magistrate gave two vandals a piece of his mind - only to be told off by the court clerk. The pair of 16-year-olds had written racist and sexually abusive graffiti in prayer books and bent a priceless John the Baptist cross out of shape after wandering into a cathedral.

Experienced magistrate Austin Molloy, chairman of the bench, told them: "Normal people would consider you absolute scum." Clerk of the court Christine Dean then stood up and told Mr Molloy: "It is totally inappropriate and unjust for you to use the term 'absolute scum' in the youth court."

Blackburn magistrates court heard the teenagers, from Darwen, Lancs, were traced after they wrote their own names in the visitors' book at Blackburn Cathedral. They cannot be named for legal reasons.



Boy A was given an 18-month supervision order and a £1,500 fine after admitting damaging the cross at a hearing last month. Boy B got a 12-month supervision order and a £100 fine after admitting defacing and damaging the books.

Last night Mr Molloy revealed that he had been relieved of his duties. But he added: "What these two boys wrote was sickening and perverted.

"They needed to be told off. The courts need to start looking after the victims rather than the criminals."