A judge has described racism as 'vile' and 'dehumanising' after hearing how a black man suffered a race attack when he tried to stop a lockdown-breaking party in Cranbrook.

Rhianna Underhill used the N word as she lashed out at the grandfather who had gone to try and restore order after a house party got out of hand.

The incident happened at Best Park on the night of July 18, 2020, when indoor mixing was still banned by Covid restrictions.

A young black man had invited some friends to a party but news had got out on social media and the house was invaded by gate-crashers who trashed it while attacking him.

Underhill was being evicted by police when she turned on the victim, racially abused him, and punched him in the face, aggravating an eye condition which may lead to blindness.

The victim, who is a grandfather, wrote a moving impact statement in which he said it filled him with a sense of sorrow and helplessness.

He said: “All I was trying to do was to stop the utter abuse of another black person and stop a situation that had got out of control. Don’t feel sorry for me. I am stronger than the ignorance I face.

“Being a target for discrimination caused me anger and embarrassment and triggered psychological and physical issues.”

Underhill, also known as Maddocks, now aged 20, of St David’s Hill, Exeter, denied racially aggravated assault causing actual bodily harm.

She told the jury she had left peacefully and been mistaken for another party goer and mis-identified.

But she was found guilty at Exeter Crown Court last month.

She was curfewed for three months and ordered to do 30 days of rehabilitation activities and pay £240 costs under a two-year community order by Judge David Evans.

The judge praised the public-spirited behaviour of the victim and told Underhill: “Racial abuse is the vile dehumanisation of another person. When it is accompanied by violence, it is a double outrage.”

Mr Warren Robinson, defending, said Underhill suffers from autism and is living at a therapeutic community in Exeter, where she has stayed out of trouble for 18 months since this offence.