Businessman in ‘Nazi’ warden spit shame

Carl Hagan then belly-bounced the warden after threatening to “knock him out”, when the council enforcer slapped a parking ticket on his Jaguar.

Even the 63-year-old’s solicitor admitted his client’s behaviour was “disgusting”.

But he pleaded for “poorly” Hagan to be spared prison, after a judge warned Scarborough magistrates that the Murray Street attack was serious enough to warrant jail.

Hagan saw red after the warden issued him a ticket on June 2, after his car overran the hour limit by 15 minutes.

Hagan clashed with the enforcement officer after being told he was still getting fined even though he promised to move the car.

But after a foul-mouthed rant, he demanded to know where the warden was from.

And as the Polish warden responded, Hagan barked “you are worse than an animal, you are worse than a Nazi” as shocked children and dog walkers looked on.

But as Hagan used his weight to push the warden away he threatened to render him unconscious and the warden walked off.

That was when the council employee felt spit hit the back of him – turning around to see only Hagan close enough to have done it.

“I freely concede that his behaviour was disgusting,” said Hagan’s solicitor at the hearing on Thursday October 23.

“That being said, there’s nothing of violence on his record.”

That record, the court heard, was extensive and had several dishonesty convictions – with Hagan serving time at home as well as abroad.

The hearing did hear that despite these claims, Hagan did have an act of violence on his record from 2007 – although he said that its inclusion must be a “mistake”.

And after Judge Cousins stood the case down for a probation report, the service claimed that if he was jailed again, 
Hagan felt prison “would be the death of him”.

That was based on a number of conditions, including type two diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and sleep apnea.

The latter, the court heard, means Hagan has to sleep with a mask on his face.

In mitigation, his solicitor added: “I would say this is very much out of character for him.”

But the court heard that Hagan’s criminal record was “terrible”, and that with the attack being on a Polish warden, the charge of assault by beating carried an unpleasant “racial element” with it.

The court also heard that on that afternoon, with professional and personal pressures mounting up, the fine was like a “red rag to a bull” for Hagan as he snapped with the public servant.

And comments made after the attack, in which Hagan told the warden to get his mother to clean up the mess, only made the situation worse.

But despite being told that the severity of the offence passed the custody threshold, Hagan – who apologised to the warden through his solicitor – was spared jail.

Instead the 63-year-old, who lives alone on pension credit, was ordered to pay £350 compensation and given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for four years.

In summary, Judge Cousins said: “Spitting is very unpleasant and it causes fears that I’m sure you are aware of.”

A council spokesperson said: “Mr Hagan’s attack on one of our civil enforcement officers who was just carrying out his job was appalling.

“The fact that the attack was partly racially motivated made an already serious incident even more shocking.

“We will not tolerate any staff member being treated in this way and we will always report such incidents to the police.”