A pensioner couple have pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault after a video of them abusing an NHS nurse in a Yorkshire park went viral. Fyona Bairstow, 72, and Michael Bairstow, 77, accosted Apple Moorhouse in Manor Heath Park, Halifax, in August following a dispute over their dog being off its lead.
Bradford Magistrates’ Court heard that Michael Bairstow told Ms Moorhouse to “go back to your dinghy” while making swimming gestures. As she tried to walk away, Fyona Bairstow pulled her ponytail. The pair, from Shelf, Halifax, both admitted racially aggravated assault against Ms Moorhouse on Wednesday.
Michael Bairstow also pleaded guilty to assaulting a second woman who intervened. The court was told that when the woman told him to get away from Ms Moorhouse, he punched her in the face and said: “Sticking up for immigrants, who do you think you are?”
Ms Moorhouse, who moved to the UK from the Philippines more than 15 years ago, said she never returned to work after the incident. “I feel anxious obviously, every time that I think back, I feel upset,” she said outside court. “I used to work in healthcare and I wanted to go back but I felt scared … this happened and I just didn’t go back.”
The case was adjourned until 15 April for a pre-sentence report. The couple were bailed with conditions not to go to Manor Heath Park or contact Ms Moorhouse.
