A MAN hurled racist abuse at his neighbour before challenging a man she was with to fight.

Stephen Gray made the remarks on April 29 this year.

His female neighbour had been standing near Elderpark Street in Govan having a conversation with a man in Polish at around 7.40pm.

During their conversation, they heard shouting coming from nearby flats.

They then saw Gray, 26, shouting from a window.

As they continued talking Gray shouted towards them “You f*****g Polish bastards, speak English” and “Polish c***s”.

Gray continued shouting towards them. The pair perceived these comments to be racist.

The man went into the flat block and began banging on Gray’s door. Gray then challenged him to a fight.

Police were later contacted and attended Gray’s address where he was traced.

He was arrested and during an interview, he denied the allegations. At this time he was not cautioned or charged.

In a separate incident earlier this year on March 15 the female neighbour was in her flat with another person when they heard loud shouting and banging coming from the flat below.

They contacted police to report this.

Before police arrived they heard banging at the woman’s front door followed by a male voice shouting and swearing.

They recognised this to be Gray’s voice.

Gray went to the door several times shouting, swearing, and striking the door.

The pair contacted police again.

Police attended and the woman explained her fear of Gray. Ring Doorbell footage was provided which showed Gray doing as the two had described.

Officers spoke to Gray at around 3.25am. He was arrested, cautioned, and charged to which he made no reply.

Gray, of Govan, appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court for sentencing on May 30 after pleading guilty to acting in a manner that was racially aggravated by repeatedly shouting, swearing, and utter racial remarks as well as challenging a person to fight.

He also pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner by shouting, swearing, and repeatedly striking the front door of a property occupied by two people.

Both offences were committed whilst Gray was on bail.

Addressing Gray, Sheriff Patricia Pryce said: “There seems to be a bit of a theme. He should be addressing his offending and the reason for it.

“The only good thing you did here was take responsibility.”

Gray’s lawyer told the court that the offences had been related to a neighbour dispute.

The defence solicitor said: “He does accept the narration. It was related to a neighbourhood dispute. It is not lost on him that a custodial sentence could be imposed.

“He has been doing well on a community payback order and has completed unpaid work. His record is not helpful but he has had stability partly due to a community payback order.”

Sheriff Pryce ordered Gray to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.