A MAN who shouted xenophobic abuse in York the day after the EU referendum has been jailed.

Christopher McCann, 45, shouted abuse near the bus stops in Piccadilly in York at about 3pm on Friday, June 24, hours after Britain's decision to leave the EU had been confirmed.

At York Crown Court on Monday, he was jailed for 16 months.

A UK-wide rise in hate crime was reported in the aftermath of the EU referendum but McCann's sentence was for assaulting a shopper who tried to control him, rather than for the abuse itself.

The shopper, Patrick Gallagher, was commended by a judge for his public-spirited actions in trying to contain McCann. Mr Gallagher tried to get him to calm down and stop shouting abuse, said Chloe Fairley, prosecuting. McCann first threatened to kill him, then hit him with a bottle and head-butted him.

Judge Tom Bayliss QC said at York Crown Court: “I commend Mr Gallagher for his public spirited behaviour in asking him to calm down” and asked the prosecution to ensure that he got the appropriate formal recognition for his actions.

McCann, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing actual bodily harm to Mr Gallagher. His solicitor advocate Kristian Cavanagh said he suffered from alcoholism and had been homeless throughout 2016.

Ms Fairley said there were many elderly and young people present on June 24 when McCann, with a bottle in his hand, shouted “You ******* foreigners, you ******* *****, I will smash this bottle on you.”

It wasn’t clear whom he was insulting, said Ms Fairley. Mr Gallagher, who had been shopping in York city centre, asked him to calm down. But McCann refused and continued swearing and gesturing.

Mr Gallagher tried to move him away from the other people, but McCann told him: “I will kill you” and swung the bottle at him, hitting him on the ear.

Mr Gallagher held him on the ground. When a police officer arrived and handcuffed McCann, he helped her put McCann in a police van, but McCann head-butted him, causing a cut by his eye, said Ms Fairley.

McCann was on a six-week suspended prison sentence for other violence which magistrates have since ordered him to serve. He was also on a conditional discharge for being drunk and disorderly, and has other previous convictions for violence.

The judge ordered the crown court sentence to be served after he finishes the magistrates’ sentence. Mr Cavanagh said McCann would use his time in prison to tackle his alcohol problem.

A UK-wide rise in hate crime was reported in the aftermath of the EU referendum.