A man parked in a disabled bay without a blue badge and hurled abuse at a woman who asked him if he had a permit.

Billy Coleman, 31, of Ellis Court, Churchill Close, Dartford, insulted the woman, who uses two crutches to walk and is registered disabled, in the car park of a doctor’s surgery in New Ash Green on July 1 last year.

He drove off after showering her with insults, but was tracked down as the woman had remembered his number plate and asked a passer-by to write the details down.

Appearing before Sevenoaks magistrates, Coleman was given an electronic curfew between 10pm and 6am for 48 days because his actions were classed as a disability hate crime.

He was also ordered to pay £310 in court costs and an £85 victim surcharge. Chief Crown Prosecutor Jaswant Narwal said: “Disability hate crime is an insidious crime, where the victims are often those least able to defend themselves.

“This is why they are taken so seriously and sentencing uplifts, which recognise the hostility shown by the defendant, are imposed in these cases.

“Sadly, incidents such as this are not uncommon. For example, in another case recently, a man spat in the face of a disabled man, who was injured while serving with the Royal Air Force, in an attack over disabled parking spaces.

“These spaces are for reserved those who have been allocated permits because of their disabilities and it is extremely disturbing that we still have people who refuse to accept this and then abuse those who have a right to use them.”

“Disability hate crime is an insidious crime, where the victims are often those least able to defend themselves" Jaswant Narwal

Details of the case were released by the Crown Prosecution Service South East, as part of its most recent report on hate crimes in the region.

Between July and September last year, the police logged 277 hate crime offences, an increase of 60%. Record levels of hate crime have been reported across England and Wales since the EU referendum and Brexit. According to the figures, gathered by the Press Association, only four forces reported a decrease on the previous three months.

Kent came seventh on the list of the biggest increases.

They also showed that a rise in incidents was recorded both year-on-year and when comparing the three months either side of the referendum.