Judge and defendant exchange insults in court

John Hennigan, being jailed in Chelmsford for racist abuse, shouted offensive remarks at judge who said them right back to him

A judge who was verbally abused by a defendant reciprocated at a court hearing where he was being sentenced for breaching an antisocial behaviour order.

John Hennigan, 50, who had breached the order by using racist language towards a black woman and her two children told Chelmsford crown court judge Patricia Lynch QC that she was “a bit of a cunt”. And Judge Lynch replied: “You are a bit of a cunt yourself.”

When Hennigan screamed back “Go fuck yourself”, the judge replied: “You too.” He reportedly also shouted “Sieg Heil” – a pro-Hitler chant used in Nazi Germany – and banged the glass panel of the dock as he was jailed for 18 months.

Hennigan, from Harlow, Essex, has dozens of previous convictions for offences including drug and firearm possession and common assault.

An asbo was previously imposed on him in 2005 when a swastika was discovered daubed on the front door of his council house.

He was in court for breaching the order in 2010, when he launched racist abuse at a newsagent before attacking him with a display of sweets.

Appearing before an Old Bailey judge in October 2012 after making Nazi salutes at a pub in London, he claimed he had only been raising his arm to collect his change after paying for a drink. He was convicted of breaching an asbo.

Sentencing him on that occasion, the judge, Nicholas Cooke QC, said: “In sentencing you, the court is not upholding some culture of political correctness. It is preserving public order and dealing with behaviour that is regarded by most people as way, way off the scale in terms of that which is acceptable.

“In this crowded public house in this city you gave a Nazi salute and spoke provocatively of Jews. The Holocaust was a crime against humanity of enormous magnitude. Behaving in the way you did was appalling.”