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A mum says she was left too afraid to go outside with her children after her baby girl was spat at by a racist thug.

The vile attack occurred as Rebecca Telford pushed her nine-month-old daughter Layla-Jean in a pram as they returned home from the shops.

Rezzas Abdulla, 33, leant into the bugy, spat in the baby’s face and told the 25-year-old mum that "white people shouldn’t breed" before walking away.

She has now told of her terrifying ordeal and blasted the justice system after Abdulla was allowed to walk free from court despite two past race-hate attacks on white women.

(Image: Chronicle Live)

Rebecca told Chronicle Live she was left stunned when Abdulla walked off like nothing had happened after the attack last January.

She said: "I kicked off and confronted him but he just carried on. Some ladies coming towards me stopped and tried to calm me down and cleaned her face.

"Layla was crying but she didn’t really know what was going on, just that she was hit in the face."

The stay-at-home mum from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, took Layla home and sought medical advice from her health visitor.

Although Layla did not need any medical tests, her health advisor encouraged Rebecca to go to the police, who managed to identify Abdulla through CCTV.

Despite Abdulla’s arrest two days after the attack, Rebecca said she felt too nervous to stay in her flat and moved within three weeks to a different area in the town.

She said: "I had to move house because of it because of it didn’t want to be in the area.

"I didn’t like to take her out in busy areas, I was nervous going out to be honest.”

During the court proceedings Rebecca was pregnant with her son Saxon which she says added to the stress of trying to get to court.

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

By the time Saxon was born in November last year, Rebecca felt confident enough to take both her children out alone.

She suffered another setback though when Abdulla walked free from court after being sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, despite being convicted of two past race-hate attacks on white women.

She said: "I think it’s ridiculous that he’s got off with it to be honest, considering he had two other offences.

"I could understand if it was his first offence and he had mental health problems they could try to treat.

"It’s white females he has got an issue with, he would not have done anything if I had been with Layla’s dad."

The mum-of-two added she has received messages of support from across the world since the crime hit the headlines.

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."

The court heard after the attack Abdulla spent time, between July and September, receiving psychiatric treatment in hospital, which has continued after his release into the community.

The judge said Abdulla’s deteriorating mental health at the time of the attack “contributed” towards the offence.