A man has been jailed for six months for punching a Jewish woman in the face.

Ben Matthew Firth harassed and then assaulted transsexual Samantha Marks in a library in Hull.

Frith had initially targeted Ms Marks at the city's central library in July, shouting "hiya boy" and making other abusive remarks. When she left the library Frith chased her. Ms Marks said: "I tried to dodge him but he blocked me and hit me twice, once in the forehead and once on the shoulder. My glasses fell off and I was knocked over." The police were called and eventually found Frith, of west Hull, nearby and arrested him.

He was convicted of harassment and assault at Hull Magistrates' Court in October and sentenced last month. At the time of the attack he was on licence for an earlier hate crime in which he had verbally abused a black woman who was shopping in the city.

Ms Marks made aliyah in 1980, and served in the IDF for more than a year before working in Israel. The 56-year-old later returned to Britain and underwent a change of gender.