A MAN admitted a racially aggravated offence outside a Darlington pub, when he appeared before magistrates yesterday.

Mark Atkinson, 30, of Cartmell Terrace, Darlington, had insulted a drunken man who was slumped on the floor outside Tanners Hall, in Skinnergate, South Durham Magistrates' Court heard.

Two women said they had heard Atkinson direct abusive language at the man.

Derek Walton, prosecuting, said Atkinson, a married man with a young child, threw a glass at the man while he was lying on the ground.

"He shouted racist remarks at the Asian, calling him an immigrant and saying he should go back home," he said.

Christopher Bunting, for Atkinson, said although he admitted the offence, his client did not throw a glass at the man and did not accept, word for word, what the prosecution claimed.

He said: "He doesn't exactly recall the words he used, but he says that hand on heart he could not say that he did not make some reference to the colour of his skin."

Magistrates heard that Atkinson's offence had been in breach of a six-month conditional discharge imposed in May for drunk and disorderly behaviour.

Mr Bunting said his client's brush with the law had been during a period of unemployment, when Atkinson was particularly depressed.

Atkinson was fined £150 and ordered to pay £100 costs.