Thought you might find this interesting, Rumpy
An international incident sheds light on the trans-Tasman rivalry with New Zealand and the limits of criminalizing speech
December 3, 2012
Excerpt
I happen to enjoy that sort of puzzling, for understanding is never so enjoyable as when it comes with much laughter. And I must admit that I laughed a lot at the following story, found in a copy of The Christchurch Press that I perused while eating my Eggs Benedict in a Greymouth, New Zealand diner. Headlined "Being called Aussie judged 'racist,'" it's one of those stories that juxtaposes the awful with the absurd, so that you feel bad laughing, but can hardly help it as the villain turns from mean-spirited harangues to blowing raspberries. Beyond the ugliness and the amusement, no study of trans-Tasman relations is complete without this case study.
The events take place in Macclesfield, U.K.:
Hurling abuse wasn't the problem for Petra Mills. But a court ruled that calling her New Zealand neighbor an Australian was racist and against the law. Czech-born Mills, 31, has been found guilty of racially aggravated public disorder after a rant at her New Zealand-born neighbor in Macclesfield, south of Manchester. Chelsea O'Reilly, who has dual British and New Zealand citizenship, said: "She called me a stupid fat Australian bitch. Because of my accent there can be some confusion over my nationality. She knew I was from New Zealand. She was trying to be offensive. I was really insulted. She said she would kill my dog. Bizarrely she then blew raspberries at me like a child."
...Two police constables told the court they had heard Mills use the word "Australian" during her drunken rant. At Macclesfield Magistrate Court Mills agreed she had shouted, but denied she was being racist. "I did not use the word 'Australian.' I used to lived with an Australian person. She was very nice."
But chairman of the bench Brian Donohue said: "You were in an emotional and inebriated state. The word 'Australian' was used. It was racially aggravated and the main reason it was used was in hostility."
Mills denied the charge of racially aggravated public disorder but was found guilty and fined 110 pounds. She admitted assaulting a police constable by kicking him in the shin and knee and was fined 200 pounds on that charge. She was also ordered to pay both victims 50 pounds compensation and 500 pound court costs. Mills and her husband moved to Scotland after the incident.
More at link with the story also as how it appeared in the local English paper
http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... an/265817/
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