Upton man hurled racist abuse at woman on city street

A 62-year-old man shouted at a Peruvian woman who passed him on the street to get out of his country because he ‘does not trust foreigners’.

Robert Margerum shouted obscenities at Monica Sara Lafosse - who speaks English with a South American accent – as she walked down Abbey Street in Chester chatting on her mobile phone on February 24, then proceeded to follow her as she crossed the road to get away from him.

Former Chronicle journalist Margerum, of Bolesworth Road in Upton, admitted using racially aggravated offensive language when he appeared before Chester Magistrates Court on Thursday (March 31).

Prosecuting, Alison Warburton said Margerum told Ms Lafosse ‘you are not even English, get out of my country’.

She attempted to get away from the defendant by crossing to the other side of the street but he followed her, forcing her to cross over again.

The matter was then reported to police and Margerum was arrested on March 15.

During police interview, he said he had no recollection of the incident as he had probably been drinking but accepted it was him when he was shown CCTV footage.

“He said he is not racist but he does have differing views on racism,” said Ms Warburton.

“He then said he has a fear of foreigners and does not trust them.”

The court heard that Margerum has four previous convictions, with the last three for being drunk and disorderly and having occurred in the past 12 months.

Sentencing was adjourned until Monday (April 4) to allow for the preparation of pre-sentence reports.