A teenager who threw a brick through a takeaway window and shouted a racial slur towards the owner has been released after spending three months in custody.

But Leah Lee, 19, has a suspended prison sentence hanging over her head for two years after she smashed the pizza shop window, amid disorder in Willington on Monday, August 5.

She had also thrown rocks in the direction of the shop as up to 30 youths targeted the Commercial Street premises and started a fire in a wheelie bin.

The disturbance took place against the backdrop of copycat violence and disorder across the country in the wake of the killings of three young girls in Southport, a week earlier.

(Image: Shaun Hope) Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, said having smashed the takeaway window, Lee later threw a wheelie bin in the direction of the police, having covered her face with a mask.

Officers arrested Lee and she was later charged with racially aggravated criminal damage and violent disorder.

In a victim impact statement, read to the court, the shop owner said: “I felt really scared due to this incident and I feared that I would have been hurt in some way.

“I feel scared to go to work in case this happens again or that it happens to any of my family.

"I feel as though I have been bullied racially and do not wish to live in this country."

(Image: Shaun Hope) Lee, of Hall Lane Estate, Willington, admitted the racially aggravated criminal damage charge but denied violent disorder.

Her pleas were accepted by the prosecution, and the charge of violent disorder was not pursued.

Having heard she had spent about three months in custody following her arrest, Judge Jonathan Carroll told Lee her conduct was, "part and parcel of what is generally referred to as the summer riots", but he said which was actually, "politically motivated violence".

(Image: The Northern Echo) The judge added: "We live in a multi-racial society and we have to learn to live side by side.

"Throwing bricks through shop windows and hurling insults because of the colour of his skin will attract a custodial sentence."

But he said given the time Lee has spent in custody, he agreed she should be released immediately, imposing a nine-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.

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Following the case, a Durham Police spokesman said: “Hate crime in any form has no place in our society and we will not tolerate it.

“We want to send a clear message to anyone who commits these types of offences, that your actions have real consequences.

“If you are found to be committing hate crime or inciting violence towards our communities, you will be dealt with robustly.”