A MAN who was wrongly locked up lashed out at a detention officer by shouting racist names at him, a court heard.

Adnaan Hussain, an Asian man, was being loud and disruptive in his cell at Kidderminster police station on July 4 before calling the guard on duty 'honky boy' - a derogatory term for a white person, predominately used in America - Mark Soper, prosecuting, said.

"The defendant was in custody and was so disruptive that it was upsetting other people at the time," he said. "Detention Officer Heather went in to ask him [Hussain] to calm down and what he wanted. He then started shouting things at him, calling him 'honky' and 'honky boy'."

In interview after the incident, the 20-year-old said he was aware of the racist nature of the comments but did not intend on being racist at the time and did apologise to the officer.

In mitigation, Mark Harper said Hussain suffered from a number of mental health issues and had not had his medication at the time of the incident because he was in custody and this was one of the factors that led to his behaviour. Another was the arrest which he felt was unwarranted.

Mr Harper said: "He [Hussain] was arrested on an unrelated matter that didn't come to anything and he felt slighted by that and that is why this came about - he was angry about being in he calls when he shouldn't have been there."

Hussain, of Oak Tree Avenue, Redditch, pleaded guilty to using threatening or abusive words or behaviour, which were racially aggravated, intentionally causing harassment when he appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, July 30.

District Judge Nigel Cadbury fined Hussain £110 and ordered he pay a court charge of £180, prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £20.