A drunken teenager who bombarded a Police officer with racial abuse lost his appeal against his sentence of probation yesterday.

Michael Coles Diel pleaded guilty to using offensive words, violently resisting arrest and refusing to give a breath test after an incident outside Paget Ice Queen in the early hours of August 26.

The 19-year-old was found in an apparently drunk and incapable state next to his motorcycle, but reacted with violence to his arrest. He told the officer who handcuffed him: "You n*gger, get me out of these f*cking things n*gger. I am going to f*ck you up n*gger. You don't know who you're messing with. My dad's a lawyer."

His father, Mark Diel, is a partner at law firm Marshall, Diel and Myers and is known for his human rights work.

On September 14, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner sentenced him to two years probation after perusing social inquiry, drug and psychiatric assessment reports. He also fined him $1,000 and banned from driving all vehicles for a year and handed him ten demerit points.

The hearing was the day before Diel was due to go overseas to England to attend university. Part of the two year probation order prevented him leaving Bermuda without the written consent of his probation officer. Mr. Warner said Probation Services could apply for him to go abroad for education later "at the appropriate time."

Diel appealed against his probation order at the Supreme Court, with defence lawyer Tim Marshall arguing that the offence should have been dealt with by a fine and the restriction on Diel being able to attend university abroad was inappropriate.

Ruling on the appeal yesterday, Chief Justice noted that pre-sentence reports detailed how Diel has a history of substance abuse including alcohol and mental health problems, which appeared inter-related.

He also has a history of expulsion from various schools and got into what the Chief Justice described as "serious mental health problems" when he went to university in England in September 2008, leading to his withdrawal in early 2009.

The pre-sentence reports recommended community supervision where he could address his issues through rehabilitation and supervision. The Department of Court services recommended he defer university attendance until 2010 so he could stabilise his mental health and substance abuse issues.

The Chief Justice noted yesterday: "It is not unreasonable, therefore, to recommend that he first sort himself out before trying again, and there must be a real risk that he will not get any benefit from university until he has done so. Against that background I do not think that the probation order imposed by the learned Senior Magistrate was wrong or manifestly excessive."

He also commented: "The words he used to the Police officer were nasty in the extreme and in my view their racial content was an aggravating circumstance which the Senior Magistrate was entitled to take into account.

"Perhaps more importantly, driving a bike whilst in the state that this appellant was obviously in poses a real danger not just to himself but also to others, and the learned Senior Magistrate was entitled to take steps to remediate his behaviour in this respect beyond a mere fine and disqualification."

However, the Chief Justice did change one provision of the probation order. That means Diel's probation officer can decide when it is appropriate for him to leave the Island for education, without having to apply to the court for permission.