A CHARD man who made homophobic comments to a teenaged boy about his mother during a fracas at a school bus stop is due to be sentenced next month.

Grant Macklin turned up at the scene and shouted out: “Which one of you has the lesbian mother – the f***y-munching mum?”

As the boy ran away in fear, he added: “You run off, you little poof.”

Children at the scene filmed the incident on their phones and when Macklin was arrested, he admitted it was him on the recording.

The 42-year-old, of Wellings Close, South Chard, pleaded guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour causing harassment, alarm or distress on May 9 when he appeared before Somerset Magistrates.

Prosecutor Giles Tippett said the police received a number of calls from frantic parents reporting that numerous students had been waiting at a school bus stop in Tatworth Road when an altercation occurred between two youngsters.

“The defendant turned up at the scene, as his children had been waiting for the bus, and started shouting aggressively and using homophobic phrases aimed at one of the boy’s parents,” he said.

“He shouted ‘which one of you has the lesbian mother, the f***y-munching mum?’

“He then shouted ‘you run off, you little poof’ which frightened the victim, and he ran around the corner and hid.

“He remained hidden until his stepmother arrived, and the comments were reported by other students who were there.”

When police interviewed Macklin he said his partner had received a phone call from his son saying he was being bullied and the defendant admitted saying some of the comments that were caught on the recording.

Mr Tippett added: “He said the pushing and shoving which occurred at the bus stop had involved his children, but he clearly caused the victim alarm and distress as the comments were aimed at his family unit.

“The hostility was directed towards someone whose parents have a particular sexual orientation.”

Defending solicitor Greg Peters said that Macklin was dealing with a number of mental and physical health problems and accepted that he had been angry on the day in question.

“His son has been subjected to about six months of abuse and bullying at the hands of other students and my client was just querying with the child about how he could be homophobic when his own mother was a lesbian,” he said.

“He had no recollection of one of the comments he was alleged to have made, but was clearly angry at the time, is very remorseful and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.”

The magistrates adjourned the case until October 22 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service.

Until then he was released on bail with conditions not to contact the victim directly or indirectly and not to attend the bus stop on Tatworth Road at school drop-off times.