A LABOUR councillor who resigned after a racist outburst at a pub bouncer has said he was “not in my right mind” at the time.

George Rist abused a doorman working at the Wetherspoon King’s Head pub in Monmouth in December last year just days after being elected to the town council in a by-election.

At Newport Magistrates Court on Friday, April 26 the 28-year-old admitted two charges of intending to cause harassment, alarm or distress and using threatening words or abusive behaviour that were racially and religiously aggravated and has been told to pay fines and costs of more than £700.

He was ordered to pay £100 compensation to the doorman as well as a £411 fine and costs of £85 and a £164 surcharge.

Following the hearing Rist told reporters: “I was going through a very, very difficult time. I’m an alcoholic. I was on medication and I’ve been treated for complex post traumatic stress disorder. I was not myself, I was not in my right mind.”

Rist, of Priory Street, Monmouth, was elected to the town council on December 21, defeating a Conservative candidate by just five votes, but resigned in March this year following the December 30 incident.