Denton mother repeatedly shouted ‘n*****’ at black female bouncer after she was kicked out of pub

A former businesswoman has been fined for berating a black female bouncer, after she had been kicked out of a bar while wetting a baby’s head.

Single mother of two Charlene Bentley-Gray, 32, berated the black, female bouncer after she was kicked out of a pub in Denton, Greater Manchester for being drunk and argumentative.

CCTV footage captured Bentley-Gray being held back by a friend as she told door supervisor Mercia Bitsindou: ‘You n…ger I’m going to batter you. Go on give it to me. Assault me you’re a n..ger I have had enough of this sh.t.’

Former businesswoman Charlene Bentley-Gray laughs as she leaves Tameside Magistrates Court (above). The 32-year-old had just been sentenced for repeatedly using the N-word to berate a black female bouncer in Denton, Greater Manchester

Tameside Magistrates Court heard the former deli shop owner was at the pub celebrating the birth of a relative’s baby on June 9 last year.

She was involved in an altercation inside and was asked to leave.

While being removed she threatened experienced door supervisor Mercia Bitsondou and used racist language.

In a victim personal statement, the victim said: ‘This incident made me feel low. I can’t believe people still use this language in this day and age. it has made me feel I can’t attend work anymore.’

At Tameside Magistrates Court, Bentley-Gray, of Mead Way, Denton, who used to run a deli shop in the town, pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated common assault. 

She was also ordered to complete 120 hours unpaid work. 

Prosecutor Martha Dowd said: ‘Mercia Bitsindou works as a door supervisor at the public house in Denton and she had been doing that for four months and had previously worked as a door supervisor for six years.

‘She had been asked to remove the defendant due to some sort of altercation within the bar. She asked the defendant to leave and initially the defendant complied with no issues.

‘However when she got outside she ‘switched’ and according to witnesses started ‘going mad.’ Her friend was trying to pull her away but she was shouting at Mercia calling her a ‘n..ger’ and saying ‘you are going to get battered.’ She was repeating the racial language.’

Magistrates heard Bentley-Gray remembers little of the racist threats she made to bouncer Mercia Bitsindou after she was kicked out of the bar in Denton last year

Bentley-Gray, who suffers with depression, was said to be ‘highly mortified and embarassed’ by her behaviour while leaving the Denton pub in June 2019

Bentley-Gray later claimed she could remember little of the incident but she denied being racist. 

In a statement she said: ‘I don’t know why I came out with that term.’

A probation report read to the court said: “She has shown remorse. She doesn’t normally drink and doesn’t remember a lot of the incident.

‘However she has shown a good insight into the impact the language she used would have had on the victim.

‘It is not normal language and she has never used it before. Clearly her behaviour was affected by the amount of alcohol she had consumed at the time.

‘She isn’t someone I would identify as posing a risk to society. There are certain aspects of her life which warrant support and she suffers from depression.

‘She is the sole carer for two children both of them are in their teens she is quite protective of them she wants to come across as strong when she needs a lot of support. She is in debt and that was causing her anxiety at the time.’

Defence lawyer Joanne Black said in mitigation: ‘As you can see she’s highly mortified and embarrassed by her behaviour. She’s not somebody who usually drinks and has no issues with alcohol.

‘She says herself she is not a racist and adds: ‘I don’t know why I came out with that term’. She is somebody who has clearly demonstrated her remorse.’

Passing sentence District judge Judge Healy: ‘You have behaved appallingly on the night in question. The victim was just doing their job, it is a difficult job they have to deal with people who have consumed alcohol, you had consumed an awful lot. It is a challenging position for them to be in.

‘You subjected the victim to really appalling, racist abuse and physical violence. If there is any repetition of this in the future you need to appreciate the consequences. 

‘I understand the stress you were facing but that isn’t an excuse for this to take place.’