London Underground Racist Jailed for YouTube Rant Spread by Ricky Gervais Tweet

A man who racially abused two passengers on the London tube has been jailed after his rant was uploaded on YouTube and then spread on Twitter by comedian Ricky Gervais.

Keith Hurdle unleashed a torrent of abuse at Kuniko Ingram on the Bakerloo line by telling her: "You're a vicious bunch of f****** c****."

Hurdle, who was drunk, claimed that his uncle had been a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II and told her: "You tortured him. Get yourself off the train, get yourself off the train. You're nasty people, yeah? F*** off, get out of my country. Sayonara."

He then confronted the person filming the incident, saying: "Where are you from?" When asked the reason for his behaviour, he shouted: "Don't give it all that, I'll knock you out in one punch."

He then offered the bottle he had been swigging from and said: 'Do you want some of that? No, because you don't drink. You're a f****** Somalian c***."

Footage of the five-minute incident was uploaded on to the web and then retweeted.

Ingram told police of her fear at being confronted by Hurdle. She said: "I felt chills down my spine and I was fearful because I was becoming a target of his abuse."

Hurdle was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail at Westminster Magistrates Court for causing harassment and distress.

Chairwoman of the bench Jane Hepburn said: "These offences are of an extremely unpleasant nature, and committed on public transport against lone passengers within the confines of an underground train.

"It was aggressive and prolonged and we feel it passes the custody threshold."