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United States EastEnders star Katie Jarvis avoids jail after shouting 'black lives don't matter' in row
EastEnders actress Katie Jarvis, who played Hayley Slater on the BBC One soap, has avoided a prison sentence and been handed a community order following a drunken brawl in which she repeatedly cried out "black lives don't matter".
The former soap star admitted racially aggravated harassment and common assault at Basildon Crown Court yesterday.
Jarvis had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, but changed her plea to a guilty one on the day of the trial.
The incidents occurred in July 2020 when the 30 year old actress, who was drunk at the time, had spewed racist abuse in front of children while walking along a seafront in Southend-on-Sea.
She also shouted out that she was a "celebrity" and had been on "EastEnders".
Prosecutor Cyrus Shroff told the court that the tirade began at around 7.30pm and lasted about 40 minutes before police arrived on scene and arrested her.
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Jarvis had got into an argument with four women in a fish and chip restaurant on the seafront when she attempted to take a chair.
Things rapidly escalated and Jarvis shouted "black lives don't matter anyway" and called the women "black c****," before declaring: "I'm a celebrity."
The prosecutor went on to detail the incident and said a "fight broke out between the parties".
Jarvis's defence lawyer Patrick Harte said she strenuously denied physically assaulting anyone.
In England and Wales a common assault is any act by which a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to suffer or apprehend immediate unlawful violence.
One of the group said the incident had left her feeling “disgusted and angry," and went on to recall there being "children around".
“I couldn’t believe in 2020 this is still being said, it traumatised me and reminded me of growing up in the eighties in an estate in London," she said.
An independent witness then recalled Jarvis walking past people queuing at a different takeaway restaurant at around 8.10pm where she was heard shouting "racist abuse" such as "black lives don't matter, all lives matter" and the N-word - which Jarvis denied using.
When asked to go away by the witness, Jarvis shouted: "I was on EastEnders, I'm a celebrity."
Four teenagers also told officers she was abusive to them too, and the court was told that a local arcade worker complained about the actress's behaviour.
Another witness reported Jarvis had been screaming so loud they could see the "veins in her face".
The court also heard that earlier on during the same day, Jarvis assaulted a doorman at a bar by "spitting on the floor by him" and shouting after he refused her entry.
Jarvis admitted after her arrest she'd been out celebrating with friends and had gotten drunk, and her barrister said in mitigation Jarvis was "sorry for the people who heard awful language that day" and she was "sorry to the doorman who was simply doing his job".
Ahead of hearing her sentence, Jarvis gave an emotional testimony in front of the courtroom.
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She also said in response to the four women in the fish and ship shop saying "black lives matter", she'd shouted "black lives don't matter, all lives matter".
Jarvis also said she didn't "use any racist slur" until after the incident "turned physical".
Mr Harte told the court: "What we have here is someone who used racist language but clearly doesn't hold racist views."
The star played Hayley on EastEnders from 2018-2019, but Jarvis's barrister told the court that since the incident in 2020 she has not filmed anything and it has caused her huge "hardship".
The actress had also been charged with two counts of assault by beating, which she denied. The judge instructed one of these counts lie on the file, with a not guilty verdict recorded in respect of the second.
Jarvis was handed a two year community order by Her Honour Judge Leigh, which included 60 hours in rehabilitation and 200 hours of unpaid leave.
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