A man allegedly driven by “hatred” of the Island’s Filipino community has been jailed for three months to stand trial on charges of intimidating and threatening two supermarket workers.

Carlos Astwood, 49, of no fixed abode, appeared in Magistrates’ Court after allegedly threatening to “blow up” the MarketPlace supermarket on Church Street.

The court heard from prosecutor Susan Mulligan that on June 22, Mr Astwood approached the two employees — who cannot be named for legal reasons — in the Hamilton bus terminal.

Mr Astwood is accused of telling them: “I’m coming to the MarketPlace and I’m going to blow the place up — I am sick and tired of Filipinos coming to our country. I am going to light a match and throw it at the gas fuse.”

According to Ms Mulligan, the defendant was asked why he was threatening them, and told them that Filipinos “need to go back to their own country”.

The two felt scared and informed co-workers under the belief that Mr Astwood intended to carry out his threats.

The defendant was then arrested, and allegedly told police: “You’ve got to do better than that. That’s cute.”

Ms Mulligan told the court that Mr Astwood had previously been convicted of damaging a concrete pillar, as well as repeatedly throwing bags of his own faeces into the garden of a Filipino woman, motivated by “an alleged hatred of Filipinos and trying to get them to go home”.

Mr Astwood is also currently under investigation for attempting to start a house fire at a residence where a group of Filipinos were living, Ms Mulligan added. She requested that he be denied bail.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner ordered Mr Astwood to remain in jail until his trial, set for October 15.