Stephen Lamonby, 73, a part-time lecturer at Southampton Solent, remarked to a colleague, Janet Bonar, that people from different countries had become good at certain things owing to “high exposure”. He said that Germans are good at engineering because they are “exposed to a high level of industry from an early stage in their lives”. When Dr Bonar, an engineering lecturer, mentioned her degree in physics, Mr Lamonby said that Jewish people had “a particular gift” for the subject. He used Albert Einstein as an example and asked Dr Bonar if she was Jewish. She took offence and called Mr Lamonby a racist. He replied: “I believe that the Jewish are the cleverest people in the world. They are much maligned because of it. I asked if you were Jewish because of your ability with maths/physics et cetera. Which is a speciality of theirs.” He also said: “I have a soft spot for young black males. I do think that they are underprivileged and many [are] without fathers et cetera [and] need all the help they can get.”