An Irish woman living and working in the UK has been convicted of racism charges and ordered to pay almost £1,000 after she embarked on an 'anti-English' rant whilst staying at a Holiday Inn hotel.
Cait O’Halloran, 40, yelled: 'All British should burn in hell!' and 'All British people should die!' after a row erupted with staff when she asked for a new key card for her room.
During her vile outburst O'Halloran, who lives in the West Sussex seaside resort of Littlehampton, abused one staff member by saying, 'He is a live creature' before later turning on colleagues screaming: 'Go to hell. F*** off and die. All British should die.'
Police called to the hotel in Runcorn, Cheshire on January 17 this year discovered the £32,000 a year office worker was drunk. A court heard she has a 'hazy' recollection of the incident.
Appearing at Warrington magistrates court, O’Halloran pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment and was fined £614 and ordered to pay £331 in costs and a surcharge. At the end of Friday's sentencing hearing, she asked if she now had a criminal conviction - was told she did and would need to inform her employer. It is not known why she flew into a rage.
Umer Zeb, prosecuting, said: 'A 999 report was made from Holiday Inn in Runcorn of a heavily intoxicated female was being verbally abusive to staff. It was anti-English abuse.'
'The defendant requested a new key card but whilst at the reception desk she became abusive. She said, ‘He is a live creature’ and ‘All British people should die.’'
Mr Zeb said she was provided with a new room key and she later returned to the area before going to the smoking area. But on entering back into the reception area she abused a different member of staff.
He added: 'She has become verbally abusive and said they 'should burn in hell' and 'All British people should burn in hell'.'
'She said, ‘F*** off and die’ to both employees.'
Mr Zeb said O'Halloran had no previous convictions. He added that while sentencing guidelines suggested a fine as suitable punishment for the offence - there should be an 'uplift' because of its 'racist nature'.
In mitigation O’Halloran's solicitor Peter Green said: 'This is totally out of character for her. She has no previous convictions recorded against her. Clearly, alcohol has played a part in this offence. Miss O’Halloran’s memory and recollection is somewhat hazy. She is mortified by her actions. She is working and earns £32,000 per year. No doubt you will fine her but I ask that you keep that fine to a minimum bearing in mind her income.'
Sentencing, JP Paula Jones told O'Halloran: 'It is obvious you acknowledge your remorse which makes a big difference in these cases, taking responsibility for this offence. We also acknowledge your early guilty plea.'
According to Government figures in the year ending March 2025, there were 98,000 race hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. While the exact number of people convicted of abusing English people specifically is not published as a single metric, data shows that in 30% of known-ethnicity hate crimes, the victim identified as white.
