Woman guilty of racism for calling New Zealand born neighbor a stupid fat Australian

A woman racially abused her New Zealand-born neighbor by calling her Australian. Czech-born Petra Mills, 31, called Chelsea O’Reilly a ‘stupid fat Australian’ during a drunken tirade. The insult was witnessed by police officers who Mills herself had called after a domestic incident with her husband. Mills, formerly of Bridge Street, Macclesfield, denied racially-aggravated public disorder but was found guilty after a trial at Macclesfield magistrates court.

Miss O’Reilly, who is a British/New Zealand dual national, said she had been offended and insulted by Mills’ behavior. Iain Mutch, prosecuting, told the court that Miss O’Reilly had heard banging and drilling. He added: “Then there was screaming from Petra and a lot of running up and down the stairs before the front door slammed.” The court heard that Mills fled her home and called the police from a phone box at the top of the road. When she arrived back home, police had arrested her husband, Michael, who was later released without charge.

Miss O’Reilly told magistrates that Mills then stormed around to her house while she was making a statement to police. She said: “She called me a stupid fat Australian bitch. Because of my accent there can be some confusion over my nationality. She knew I was from New Zealand. She was trying to be offensive.” The court was told that two police officers heard Mills use the word ‘Australian’ during her drunken rant. Mills said: “Yes, I shouted at her but it had nothing to do with racism. I did not used the word Australian. I used to live with an Australian person. She was very nice.”

Trevor Feehily, defending, said the offense was motivated by Mills’ anger at O’Reilly ‘snooping’ and not her nationality. Chairman of the bench Brian Donohue said: “You were in an emotional and inebriated state. The word Australian was used. It was racially aggravated and the main reason it was used was in hostility.” Mills also admitted assaulting one of the police officers by kicking him. Mills was fined £110 for racially aggravated public disorder and £200 for assaulting a police officer. She was also ordered to pay both her victims £50 compensation and £500 court costs.