Southampton man jailed for racially aggravated abuse and vehicle interference

A 26-year-old Southampton man has been jailed for 26 weeks after admitting to a number of charges in Southampton.

Joshua Phillips, of Woodmill Lane, Southampton pleaded guilty to one count of vehicle interference and one count of racially aggravated harassment with fear of violence.

Southampton Magistrates Court heard how in the early hours of Tuesday 2 February, Phillips along with an accomplice, were seen by a video doorbell to be trying vehicle door handles on Athelstan Road in Southampton. Upon arrival, officers were directed by a local resident, who had witnessed the events, to the location of the two men and who had subsequently fled from the officers.

Phillips was detained by officers at the scene and was arrested on suspicion of vehicle interference. Once arrested, he was placed into the back of the police van and subjected one of the officers to racial verbal abuse. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment with fear of violence.

The other man involved in the incident had absconded from police and was not located.

Joshua Phillips pleaded guilty to these offences and was handed a sentence of 26 weeks imprisonment on Thursday 11 February.

Following the sentencing, PC Louis Le Brun from Hampshire Constabulary’s Criminal Investigations Department, said: “We are pleased at the sentence handed down to Joshua Phillips by the judge, which was reflected by the serious nature of his unacceptable and unprovoked racial attack on a police officer involved in his arrest. It is due to this that the judge sought to increase his sentence to 26 weeks – so we hope that the officer feels as if justice has been served. No one should be subjected to such abuse and it will not be tolerated in any walk of life, let alone an individual doing their job to protect the local community.

“Phillips was trying to interfere with vehicles, in the hope of gaining access to the contents inside, but it is clear that he did not consider the impacts that this could have had on his victims or their livelihoods. We hope that this shows the local community that incidents of this nature are taken very seriously and that those like Phillips will face justice.”