A LEGAL messenger picked the wrong woman to racially abuse when he hurled insults at one of Britain's first black female judges. Lee Death, 27, called Constance Briscoe, who is also a best-selling author,a "wog" and a "black c***" when he walked out in front of her car following an all-day drinking session on December 23 last year.

Death, of Allendale Close, Sydenham, denied racially aggravated threatening behaviour but was convicted after a summary trial.

Sentencing him at City of London Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, chairman of the bench Richard Walduck said: "It was a very foolish thing to do."

Death was sentenced to 100 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay Mrs Briscoe £100 compensation and costs of £200.

Mrs Briscoe,49, lives in Clapham, and made it to the top of the Sunday Times bestseller list with Ugly - a harrowing account of her impoverished childhood in South London.