A rich couple who attacked the owners of a chic country pub after a Christmas dinner for Horse Riding Club was reprimanded by a judge for laughter and 'satisfied with themselves' in court when they received their punishments.
Company director Nathan Sayer, 50, and his wife Catharine, 54, avoided the prison after they had abused a staff member and racially abused that they wrongly believed was a Muslim after they were told that they could not have a drink.
In January, both were found guilty of abuse and religiously aggravated intimidation.
But during the conviction this week, District Judge Stephen Apted was pauted procedures and the couple told to tell for laughter when a summary of their insult was read before the court.
He said he couldn't understand why the couple came up with their court amusing and was seen laughing and shaking their heads.
“You don't understand and appreciate how terrible and shameful your behavior was,” he told them, the Telegraph reported.
The court of Basingstoke Magistrates heard that the incident took place on December 9, 2023 when the Sayers visited the new inn in Hook, Hampshire, with 25 others who were all part of a riding club on the Wedgewood Livery Yard.
The Sayers were seen that eating and festive crackers threw during the meeting, prosecutors told against magistrates.
Business director Nathan Sayer, 50, and his wife, Catharine, 54, were reprimanded by a judge for laughter and 'satisfied with themselves' in court while they handed their punishments
Catharine Sayer avoided the prison after they had attacked and racially abused a staff member whom they wrongly believed was a Muslim after she was told that they could not have a drink yet
The incident took place on December 9, 2023 in the New Inn in Heckfield in Hook, Hampshire
They then became 'angry' and launched attacks on landlords Thomas and Laura FaulKner during closing time after they were told that they could not get the beers' and was asked to leave.
Mrs. Sayer, 53, was accused of the injury to Laura FaulKner by grabbing her shirt around the neck, swearing her and hitting her husband, Thomas, around the head while the couple were accompanied by staff from the pub.
During the Fracas Sayer, 49, who runs a sales consultancy, an employee is said to be racially abused of which he wrongly thought he was a Muslim – but who just had a deep color of a recent holiday to Australia – by calling him 'Mustafa' and 'Sheikh Mohammed'.
The couple – which lives in a house worth more than £ 800,000 on just a mile of the pub – was confronted with accusations of racial or religiously worsened intimidation and abuse that they denied, who claimed self -defense.
But after they were found guilty, they both received a 12 -month community order.
Mr Sayer was fined £ 1,204, while Mrs. Sayer was fined £ 1,554. The couple must also complete 15 sessions of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work.
After she heard that she was 'petrified' to go to prison, Mrs. Sayer was seen smiling and laughing after he was convicted.
An earlier hearing was told that the Sayers left the pub while closing, but then returned to the location because he had forgotten his scarf.
The couple are said to have become 'angry' and attacking landlords Thomas (Picturd) and Laura FaulKner during closing time after they were told that they could not get the beers' and was asked to leave
Mrs. Sayer was accused of the injuries of Mrs. FaulKner (photo) by her shirt to grasp the neck and swear to her
Mrs. FaulKner told the court that Mrs. Sayer went to the bar and 'another drink' demanded with her husband and said, 'Get in the beers'.
When they were refused, a fight broke out, and Mrs. Faulkner, together with three employees of the New Inn – two female and one male – the couple then led from the location.
In the Pub -Foyer, when tensions rose and the couple became 'really angry' according to Mr. Faulkner, he started to record a video on his phone that was played at the court.
The Runal Inn family is a class II building and was once visited by world champion Boxing Muhammad Ali in 1977.
During their conviction, the district judge Apted noted that CCTV images of the incident showed how events had unfolded and that the couple had not shown a repentance or had accepted the responsibility for their actions.
“After you have been rejected from the pub, you were seen with the CCTV images that kiss each other and congratulated each other,” he added.
Business owner Mr Sayer had told the judge during the proceedings that they were the victims.
He accused the landlord of trying to act as the 'Instagram Police' and forcing a 'modern story' about the incident.
The Runal Inn family is a Grade II exhibition building and was once visited by the world champion boxer Muhammad Ali in 1977
Mr Sayer also claimed that his wife was pushed “like a bowling ball” during the incident and said that the staff was the aggressors, not she.
The company director – who lives with his wife in a house worth more than £ 800,000 on just a mile from the pub – told the court: 'They took a modern story and tried to force it. They were just random names, I didn't know the origin of Mustafa.
'The reason we did not call the police is that we did not want nonsense from the playground, she [the landlords] tried to drag it to a sexual or racing position. '
Mr Sayer added that the couple had followed the pair from the pub by a 'Lynch Mob' and that the staff 'was actively looking for conflicts' with them.
He said: 'These are his staff who claim to be scared and anxious, they chose to leave the pub to chase us in the foyer.
'These are people who are actively looking for conflicts, I was personally attacked three times.
'If I came from a company with responsibility for my staff, I would not let them follow everyone like Lynch.
“My first instinct would be to protect my staff, not to perform my phone as an Instagram politian.”
Asked by public prosecutor Ryan Seneviratne if he had acted 'reasonably' during the Melee, Mr Sayer said that he 'had acted as a man' after the attack he claims that his wife suffered.
“I could just hear that something was wrong and my wife is like a bowling ball between Skittles,” he said.
Alphonsus Doran, Mrs Sayer's defense lawyer, said that the couple had been 'effectively banned' since the incident.
Mrs. Sayer has lost her job, while Mr Sayer reported a 'huge impact' on his company.
