A pregnant woman who threw a pig's trotter at two Muslims working in a shop has been spared jail.

Mary King, 20, took aim with the loin of meat at Costcutter manager Clarence Nesan and his assistant and shouted: "Go back to Pakiland".

Judge David Rennie described her behaviour as disgraceful and ignorant - but let her leave Lewes Crown Court yesterday with a suspended prison sentence.

King, of Chapel Barn Close, Hailsham, admitted religously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and racially aggravated harassment when she appeared at the court last month.

The court heard she threw the pig leg over the counter at the store in High Street, Hailsham, in September last year.

She shouted racial abuse at Mr Nesan and assistant manager Kandasamy Chandrarajah.

Rose Burns, prosecuting, told the court King, who is six months pregnant with her first child, was among a group of girls who hung around outside the store.

Staff had been concerned the group were scaring away customers, especially the elderly.

She said they would swear, shout racial abuse at Mr Nesan, make pig noises and call him "Muslim scum".

She said: "The girls were quite young and he did not expect them to say things like that."

At about 5pm on September 28 King walked into the shop with a pig's trotter in her hand.

She shouted "F*** off back to Pakiland" and threw the trotter over the counter before running out of the store making pig noises.

Ms Burns said: "The incident really offended Mr Nesan. They had so much abuse but this was the last straw."

Two hours later she returned to the store and started shouting racial abuse.

When King was later arrested she denied making racist comments and said she had thrown the trotter, which she borrowed from a friend, because the staff at the store at been rude to her and she wanted to make them back off.

The court heard she denied the offences until the first day of the trial when she changed her plea.

She has previous convictions for common assault and shoplifting and in 2004 she was convicted of disorderly behaviour after calling another shop worker a "niggerr" after she was caught shoplifting.

Judge Rennie sentenced her to nine months in jail suspended for two years and she will be supervised by the probation service for the next 20 months.

The judge told her the offences were so serious they warranted a jail sentence but he had taken into account her age, previous convictions and pregnancy before deciding the prison term could be suspended.

He told her: "This was a disgraceful piece of behaviour in which you chose to treat fellow human beings, with whom you share your community, with utter contempt and disrespect.

"The level of ignorance which you displayed was absolutely breathtaking.

"The people you abused came out of this with their dignity intact. You came out of it looking completely ridiculous.

"Hopefully you will mature as time goes by and become respectful of people in our community. They are not niggers and Pakis - just people just like you and the child you are going to have."

Daniel Frier, defending, said King had written letters of apology to the two men to express her deep remorse.