The victim of a vile racist tirade and physical assault says he feels "let down" by the legal system after his attacker escaped jail.
Shabir Makim, 40, was attacked in the street by Robert Browne, 56, who struck him a number of times with two large umbrellas and repeatedly called him a "P*ki b****d".
Shabir, a teacher, had stepped out of a Tesco Express close to where he lives in the quiet Stockport village of Cheadle, when he noticed Browne was involved in an "aggressive" altercation with a homeless man.
When Shabir got his phone out to film the incident, which happened on July 25, former soldier Browne turned his onslaught onto him. The racist attack that followed - which included Browne threatening to kill Shabir - was all caught on camera, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Browne was handed a ten week suspended sentence at Tameside Magistrates Court last week (Thursday December 8) after he pleaded guilty to a charge of racially aggravated assault.
It's a sentence that means he won't spend any time in custody unless he offends again within the next 18 months, despite the chair of the bench branding the attack 'horrifying'.
For Shabir, it isn't enough.
Speaking a day after the sentencing, Shabir said he felt "all over the place", and that the experience has left him angry, frustrated, and feeling '"et down" by the legal system.
"I have so many after-thoughts," he said. "I really feel like he has got away with it. I'm heartbroken, really. There is a part of me saying whatever happens happens for the best and that I should put my trust in the Lord and all that - but then I get angry."
Soon after the assault, Shabir shared the video on social media to try and gain traction for the conviction and raise awareness of racist attacks.
The footage shows Browne picking up two large umbrellas, one of which had a metal end, and begin to charge towards the complainant. Browne can be heard telling the victim "you're a p*ki b*****d", to which he replies, "you're a racist son of a b***h". Shabir was then struck on the head with the umbrellas several times.
It gained 1.5 million views on Twitter, and was used as a key part of evidence in the prosecution case against Browne. Shabir said this incident was far from the first of its nature in his lifetime, and that he has been facing racist attacks since he was just eight years old.
"All my life, racists have done what they want and got away with it," he said.
"I was determined to get this guy caught". This time, because of the video, he felt confident of getting justice.
"It was intimidating," he said.
"When it became racist, it was a personal thing. I was all over the place emotionally. When it first happened, I was worried to leave my home.
"I was scared. I just wanted to be ready in case it happened again. This man said he was going to kill me."
Defending himself in court, Browne said on the day of the offence, he had come from the funeral of a friend and ex-soldier who he served with in Iraq.
He "apologised" for his behaviour, branding it "unacceptable", but suggested the incident had been blown out of proportion.
Shabir suffered concussion as a result of the assault, falling asleep at his daughter's ninth birthday party. But he said it was the disappointment with the result of the sentencing that will truly stick with him now Browne has been convicted.
Magistrates initially handed Browne a 15 week custodial sentence, which was lowered to ten weeks due to Browne's credit for pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.
Shabir said he was "happy" to see an Asian man on the bench, and that his "heart jumped" when he heard the magistrates mention custody in their sentencing remarks.
But the sentence was suspended after magistrates found Browne had a "realistic prospect of rehabilitation".
Shabir thanked the bench while in the courtroom - but he says that in reality he was "heartbroken".
"He just got away with it," he added. "I'm free right now, and I've got to make sure I don't misbehave. Everyone has to do that. I should have asked him to apologise to me, to give me a formal apology to my face."
Browne's sentence did not involve any kind of unpaid work or rehabilitation courses - both of which defendants can be asked to attend as part of their conviction.
Shabir says he has been left fearing Browne would not learn the true impact of his actions from the punishment imposed by the bench.
"Do they expect rehabilitation to happen naturally?," he asked. "There's injustice in the legal system. It's all completely wrong, it feels completely broken. Racism isn't seen in a serious light."
Shabir said he feels attacks of this kind, alongside right-wing extremism, are growing in the country. He said he doesn't feel his children are safe from racist assaults of this kind, despite his best efforts to hide what happened to him from his 12-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter.
"I want to shelter them from this," he said, adding that he moved into Cheadle Hulme to escape similar incidents.
"The law isn't harsh enough on hate crime in particular."
He hopes that sharing his experience will highlight the reality of racism in modern Britain. "I just want to have an impact," he said.
"Even if just one person reads this, it might make them think, it might make them have that conversation at the dinner table."
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