A MAN has been convicted of racially abusing a Muslim pharmacist who refused to sell him the morning after pill on “ethical” grounds.

Chris Mellett, 29, and Kaye Walsh, 36, had gone to Sainburys pharmacy in Ashton late on a Sunday afternoon to buy the pill after their usual form of contraception failed on Friday night.

When pharmacist Mohammed Parvez told the couple he could not sell them the pill, Mellett, formerly of Shelley Grove, Droylsden launched a torrent of racial insults, Tameside magistrates heard.

Prosecuting, Thomas McCabe said: “The defendant shouted: ‘United Kingdom, Great Britain, not for people like you!’

“He was red-faced and angry and shouted: ‘Shut your ******* mouth you black ******* you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mellett then complained to duty manager David Lawrence telling him: ‘If I was in his country I would kneel on a mat and bow East. In this country he should obey our rules.‘

The store arranged for a pharmacy in Denton to stay open an extra five minutes, but the couple, who had Ms Walsh’s children — Philip, 17, and Sophie, five — in tow insisted there wasn’t enough time to get there.

The next day the couple contacted the Advertiser and even wrote to the prime minister to register their disgust. The story gained widespread attention.

Mellett, a former recruitment consultant, was arrested 12 days later after Mr Parvez made a complaint to police.

He denied the charge, claiming Mr Parvez had “fabricated” the allegations to seek “revenge” for him going to the newspapers.

He told magistrates: “I went to the press because it was a bugbear, it really got under my skin. I was in sheer disbelief. It was on the shelf behind him but he couldn’t sell it. I told him he was there to provide a duty of care.

“If you had to employ a fireman, you wouldn’t employ one that didn’t put out fires. If I did swear, it wasn’t directed at anyone. I just muttered under my breath.

“I was calm. I don’t have outbursts. I was surrounded my members of the public and had a small child with me.”

Mr McCabe said: “You’re using the five-year-old as an excuse. CCTV footage showed she wasn’t always there.  In truth, that was your big moment to vent your spleen. You wanted to have your big sound off.”

Mellett said: “So I’ve racially insulted someone, gone to customer services and given all my personal details and then got the press involved, I’m sorry no.”

Mitigating, Paul Lamb said: “No complaint was made until 12 days later — after significant publicity — although each of the witnesses could have done so in that time.

“At best, the incident has been taken out of context or at worst completely fabricated.”

Tameside magistrates found Mellett guilty of racially aggravated harrassment. He was fined £175 with £160 costs.