Rezzas Abdulla spat in a nine-month-old baby’s face (Picture: North News)

A man has been spared jail after he spat in a nine-month-old baby’s face and shouted ‘white people shouldn’t breed’.

Rezzas Abdulla targeted Layla-Jean in her pushchair last January in South Shields while she was out with her mother, Rebecca Telford.

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He approached without warning, lent into the pushchair and spat. Prosecutor Emma Dowling told the court that he then made his racist comment before walking off.

When Rebecca confronted him he told her to ‘shut the f*** up’ then walked off.


Abdulla, who has two previous convictions for race-hate attacks on white females, was later tracked down through CCTV.

Layla-Jean was targeted in the racist attack (Picture: North News)

Abdulla, from South Shields, was convicted of racially aggravated common assault after a trial at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, which he did not attend.



In a victim impact statement Rebecca told the police: ‘I am completely disgusted and distressed that a grown man, regardless of race or religion, would spit on a defenceless baby in a completely unprovoked attack.

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‘If he had just walked by I would not have even noticed him, there was no eye contact and no words had been exchanged. I had never seen him before.’

He was given eight months suspended for 18 months, with rehabilitation and mental health treatment requirements.

The court heard that Layla-Jeam, now almost two, was taken to the doctor after the attack for tests amid fears she could have contracted TB.

Rebecca added: ‘I believe he spat on her purely because we are white, I was a lone female and an easy target.’

Rebecca feared that she may have had to take her daughter for TB tests (Picture: North News)

Mr Recorder Darren Preston told Abdulla: ‘There is something viscerally horrible and disgusting about spitting at someone, particularly in the face and to do so to a baby was particularly disgusting, let alone to make things even worse when your motivation for doing so is racial hatred.’

The judge referred to Abdulla’s previous convictions and told him: ‘You have got a problem, it seems to me, with white women.’

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Abdulla received psychiatric treatment following the attack and it is believed his mental health had deteriorated in the run-up to the attack.

Speaking after the court case today Rebecca added: ‘South Shields is really multicultural, and I have never witnessed anything like this before, between any races. It was horrifying. I am glad he has been brought to justice, but I think he has got off lightly.

‘I am not racist at all but I honestly think if it was the other way round and I had been abusive towards him, then I would have been treated differently.

‘I had been doing a bit of shopping and was just round the corner from my house.

A judge found that he had a problem with white women (Picture: North News)

‘I saw a man walking in the opposite direction and then as he passed us he stopped, leaned into the pram, spat on Layla-Jean, and said, ‘White people should not breed’.

‘It was horrendous, I was just so shocked. It was the racism that disgusted me. I started yelling at him and he just walked away.

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‘Layla Jean was just nine months old. She did not have a clue what was going on, but she was still distressed.



‘A lady stopped and helped me to wipe her face. I didn’t call the police at first because I was just so worried about Layla-Jean. She was only nine months at the time.

‘I phoned the doctor and I was told that Layla-Jean might need to have a BCG injection, in case she had contracted TB.

‘Normally kids don’t get vaccinated until they are much older, and it would have been a lot for her to go through. Luckily, it wasn’t necessary in the end, but it put me through a lot of worry and stress.

‘I wasn’t sure if the police would take what had happened seriously, because it wasn’t physically violent, but they were fantastic, and managed to catch him within a few days.’