‘Nasty’ 52-year-old shouted racial slur at man on bus

A 52-year-old who caused a scene on a town bus shouted a racial slur towards a man.Mark Bryning appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he admitted using racially aggravated words to cause alarm or distress.The court heard that Bryning had been on a bus travelling from Lynn to Norwich on April 12 when the commotion occurred.

A woman on the bus reported that Bryning first came up to her and started being “nasty”, asking her to stop talking so loudly.Bryning continued to shout, then directed his frustration towards another man, telling him to put his headphones on while on the phone.Bryning, of Swingate Lane in London, started throwing his arms around and then said to the man: “Where are you from? You’re not from around here.” He began “squaring up” to the man before the bus pulled over and staff escorted him off the vehicle.The woman on the bus described Bryning as “abusive, aggressive and alarming”. Bryning had a total of 138 previous offences to his name.In mitigation, duty solicitor George Sorrell explained that Bryning’s offending stemmed from a mental health condition.“With this disorder, he is provoked by loud noises and music. He felt that people were talking loudly, so he got involved,” Mr Sorrell said. “To me, he has described his normal behaviour as being the type of person who would help an elderly person cross the road.“There wasn’t anything particularly bad about the racial element. It is not too explicit and not as bad as it could have been, but it has clearly offended someone.”Bryning was fined £120 and was ordered to pay a £48 victim surcharge.