On Thursday morning, customers at famed Yasar Halim’s patisserie in East Finchley, North London, bore witness to a serious verbal assault on a young man. The latter part of the incident was captured on camera by one customer who posted it on to her Facebook page, detailing what she had seen.
Jessie Harrington wrote, “An irate man entered the patisserie of Yasar Halim at East Finchley at 11:35 am on Thursday, Jan. 25th, 2018. He was angry with the young man on the right’s driving [sic]. He told him to go back to his country and that this was his country. By the time I started getting my video ready, I had missed part of the denigration. The young man kept his composure, and answered politely in impeccable English.”
It’s not clear what the offsite driving incident was that prompted the altercation between the two men. However the exchange and specifically the crude language used by the older man shocked customers present and those who watched the clip afterwards.
The clip starts as the younger man tries to calmly explain he has lived in the country all his life, after being told off-camera to “go back to his country”. The clearly irate older man continues to insist the younger man is a “bad driver” and becomes incensed by the unruffled response and nature of the younger man. He then starts to rudely abuse the younger man by calling him a “pratt”, “w*nker”, “f*cking transgender c*nt”, and “piece of sh*t”.
The shocking language and type of abuse was not lost on those who witnessed it. In her post, Jessie Harrington also wrote: “There was a big slur on transgender people, too,” adding, “This type of behaviour should be stopped at its bud, and the man on the left should be made to apologise. UNACCEPTABLE RACIST AND BIGGOTED BEHAVIOUR [sic].”
Many joined Jessie on Facebook in condemning the vile language and behaviour of the older man. Lorraine Womack’s described it as “Shocking! Disgraceful behaviour!”
Suzanne Webber said, “These offensive people are astonishingly narrow minded and astonishingly limited in vocabulary.”
Anni Laundon wrote: “There is no excuse for that behaviour. Sadly, it is seen everywhere, and where possible I will challenge it. I am sick of the disrespect and rudeness to people from other cultures. We are all humans, and diversity is fantastic.”
