Student hit out over 10p

Student Okonera, 25, slapped Caroline Cameron around the head after losing his temper at the Bridge Harvester restaurant, London Road, Wheatley, in September this year.

Oxford magistrates heard how minutes after the incident, Okonera drove away in a borrowed Vauxhall Astra, even though he was banned from driving and uninsured.

Shan Saunders, prosecuting, told the court how Miss Cameron was confronted by Ugandan-born Okonera, of Westholm Court, Bicester, after he had been shouting at a waitress.

Miss Cameron said he could use another phone when she heard he had lost his 10p. He refused and carried on shouting, even calling her a racist.

She threatened to call the police and he left. Five minutes later he returned and Miss Cameron gave him 10p for the phone, but he followed her around, still shouting, and then slapped her on her left ear.

She suffered temporary loss of hearing and swelling, said Miss Saunders. One month later, police saw Okonera driving erratically on the A41 in Bicester and found he was twice the legal drink limit. A breath test found he was twice over the legal drink-drive limit.

Geraint Jones, defending, said Okonera, a student and a married dad-of-one, was jailed as a political prisoner in Uganda and Kenya, but moved to Britain in 1992. His experiences in Africa had left him traumatised, said Mr Jones., and he has also suffered two racial attacks in Britain, which has made him wary of others.

Mr Jones said: "He has suffered these last ten years and is naturally suffering behavioural difficulties because of this."

Okonera admitted assault, drink-driving and driving while disqualified and without insurance.

He was given a 90-day prison sentence suspended for 12 months and banned from driving for five years.

Magistrates also told him to pay £100 compensation to Miss Cameron and £80 costs.

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