Sarbjit Hundal, 53, subjected his neighbours to harrowing threats – but was only ordered to pay compensation to the family he abused and the police officers he assaulted
A nightmare neighbour avoided jail after a campaign of sickening racially aggravated harassment which included criminal damage and rape threats.
Sarbjit Hundal subjected the family living next door to him to a torrent of racial abuse, including calling them “white c**s”, and terrified the homeowner’s daughter when he punched one of their windows repeatedly, in an entirely unprovoked attack, until the glass shattered and then tore down their six-foot garden fence while she was home alone.
Despite being convicted in August 2023 of racially abusing the same neighbour, the 53-year-old’s most recent harassment campaign started in December 2024. It went on until May this year and even saw him threaten to rape two of the women who lived in the property.
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Even after he was arrested over the matters and bailed with conditions not to contact his neighbours, his aggressive behaviour towards them continued within hours of his release. Hundal, from Gravesend, was charged with common assault, four counts of racially aggravated harassment, harassment without violence and assault of an emergency worker. He also racially abused the officers who went to arrest him.
He initially denied some of the offences, but then changed his plea to guilty in July when he was due to stand trial and returned to Medway Magistrates’ Court on September 18 to learn his fate. Rajni Prashar, prosecuting, told the court Hundal continued to harass the family despite being arrested and bailed with conditions not to contact them.
She added: “It was about 5.30pm on December 20, and the homeowner’s daughter was home alone. He was banging on the kitchen window shouting, ‘Come out you f****r’. She called her father, who was coming back from work and then looks in the garden, when Hundal breaks the fence. He then made threats and said, ‘I’ll kill you, you white c**’ and he was ripping the panels.”
The court also heard that Hundal punched a kitchen window at their property until it shattered. The prosecutor added: “He started swearing at officers and called one a c*** and told him to f*** off, and he called one officer a white c*** and he was re-arrested.”
After being bailed in May with conditions not to contact the family, Hundal got on his shed roof and started cutting the branches from a tree, which landed in their garden. Ms Prashar added: “Despite his bail conditions, he continued to cut down the tree and started swearing and saying, “white p****”, so this had a racial nature.
“He poked his head over their fence, and there was a verbal exchange all caught on the footage, and the police were called again. He kicked out at a PC and is aggressive and hostile.” The court also heard that Hundal spat on the floor of his cell after being arrested. The prosecutor showed magistrates CCTV footage of Hundal tearing down his neighbour’s fence and kicking it.
They also watched footage taken from inside their home, which showed Hundal punching and smashing their window. A victim impact statement revealed the incident in May had a real impact on the homeowner’s daughter, who had been terrified by his behaviour, and she now locks herself in her bedroom and makes sure all the house windows are locked too when she is home alone.
She also disclosed she was worried about Hundal’s “erratic and extreme” behaviour and what he might do to her father. He’d also made threats to her mum and sister that he would rape them. The statement revealed how his harassment campaign escalated, as did his hostility towards the family who had lived next door to him for about four years.
It said that during their period of torment, Hundal had breached his bail conditions at least three times and had left the family anxious and in fear of what was coming next. They also said that they would regularly hear him screaming and shouting to himself in his home and that he would find any means to intimidate them.
The court also heard he had other convictions for dishonesty, assault and driving offences and in 2020 and 2022, was also convicted of other racially-aggravated crimes. Samuel Sotunde, defending, told the court that Hundal’s dispute with the family was over a large tree on the boundary of their property.
Magistrates told Hundal they had listened to everything that had been said, but that his actions towards the family were “utterly despicable”. The chairman of the bench said: “Your actions are shocking and inexcusable. The family should have the right to peace and safety in their own home.
“For the December offences, we are giving you custody for those matters, but we can suspend the term. If you re-offend, you will be going to prison.”
Hundal was given a prison sentence 20 weeks for those offences, suspended for 18 months. He was also jailed for six weeks for the harassment campaign, which also suspended and will run concurrently alongside the 20-week term he’d already been given.
He was also ordered to work with probation during the 18-month term and will complete 50 rehabilitation sessions and attend a mental health treatment requirement for 12 sessions.
Hundal was ordered to pay £1,200 compensation to the homeowner and £50 to the officers he abused and assaulted, and was issued with a three-year restraining order, banning him from contacting the family or damaging their property. Hundal told the court he would pay what he owes at a rate of £100 a month, despite claiming benefits.