AN Ipswich man hurled racist abuse at two white women who told him they had black husbands before punching one in the face, a court heard.

AN Ipswich man hurled racist abuse at two white women who told him they had black husbands before punching one in the face, a court heard.

Unemployed Steven Povey had asked the women if they would like to accompany him back to his home but they said no, telling him they were married and had children.

One of the women showed Povey, 22, a picture of her mixed race child and Povey shouted “What is it with you white women and your black men?”

He made more offensive remarks about black people before threatening to throw the women off the bridge they were walking on.

Povey then punched one of the women in the mouth, cutting her lip, before running away.

Appearing at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court in Ipswich on Monday , Povey, of Old Foundry Road, pleaded guilty to a charge of racially aggravated common assault on April 12.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal damage at his father's Moore Road home where he damaged kitchen units and appliances and a front door in March, causing £700 of damage.

Mark Holt, mitigating, described the assault as “an unpleasant experience”.

However, he told the court that Povey had lost his mother in 2001 at the age of 17 and had taken it particularly badly, suffering from depression since.

He said: “He has no previous convictions for violence and no convictions to suggest racial aggravation.

“Drink was an element in all of this.”

Povey, who committed the assault while on bail for the criminal damage charges, was told that all sentencing options were being kept open.

He will be sentenced on May 9 after completion of a pre-sentence report.