A foul-mouthed pensioner has been banned from speaking to his Northern Ireland-born neighbour after calling him a 'paddy b******'.

Englishman Frederick Langley (80) has been given a retraining order for racially abusing Ulsterman Arthur Hughes (75) at their sheltered housing complex in Dover, Kent.

The attack followed five years of arguments between the neighbours, the Dover Express reports. It started when Hughes - a retired bus driver - stood up for an elderly female neighbour who was being berated over noise by Langley.

Folkestone Magistrates' Court heard that police had been called out to the block of flats a number of times over the years, and the pair had even attended mediation sessions.

But the arguments came to a crux in January this year when Langley told Mr Hughes 'Come down here you Paddy b******, I'm going to kill you' as well as 'Irish b****** - come and fight me'.

Langley's defence solicitor Miss Holland said: "Although to him it's not a racist word, he can now see how to someone else it could be. It's not something he would use."

He was convicted for two incidents of racially aggravated harassment by words and given a two-year restraining order not to speak to Mr Hughes. He was also given a 12-week jail sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered to pay Mr Hughes £100 in compensation.

Mr Hughes told the Express after the case: "It's not a bad result as long as he behaves himself. All I want is to be left in peace, but I don't think it will happen.

"We've tried everything and nothing worked – he just keeps on and on."

Asked if he would consider moving away, Mr Hughes said: "Why should I? Because of this idiot who won't leave me alone?"

Belfast Telegraph