A racist thug from Kew who said he hoped a bus driver he assaulted would be 'deported' has failed to convince top judges to cut his jail term.

James Samuel De Costa, 34, of Kew Road, was jailed for 22 months at Isleworth Crown Court on January 11.

The court heard how De Costa boarded a 237 bus - which goes from Frampton Road to White City Bus Station - on June 20 last year.

He failed to pay and went upstairs and sat on the back row, Mrs Justice McGowan told London's Appeal Court on Tuesday (July 31).

When the driver came and asked him to pay he became 'verbally abusive' and 'increasingly aggressive'.

He chased the bus driver down the stairs and attempted to grab hold of him, using racially abusive language and swearing repeatedly.

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De Costa told the victim 'I hope you get f***ing deported. Go back to your own f***ing country. This is our country'.

He repeatedly struck the perspex screen in the bus and spat at it before the driver pressed the emergency alarm.

De Costa pulled at the windscreen wipers of the bus, damaging them beyond repair, and poured a two litre bottle of liquid over the windscreen.

The Royal Coat of Arms and signage is pictured on an external wall of The Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand in central London on August 21, 2016. The Royal Court of Justice building accommodates both the Court of Appeal and the High Court. Often referred to as The Law Courts, the building was designed by architect George Edmund Street in Gothic style and opened by Queen Victoria in 1882 / AFP / NIKLAS HALLE'N (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)

He slapped the driver 'at least once' in the face, said the appeal judge, who was sitting with Mr Justice Stuart-Smith.

On June 27 last year, he visited his mother and shouted at a neighbour in the block of flats where she lived.

De Costa said: "Go back to your own country, go back to Ghana, go back to Jamaica, go back to Somalia, go back to Pakistan'.

He admitted common assault, criminal damage, causing fear of violence and intentional harassment. All the offences were racially aggravated.

He was in breach of a suspended 18-month sentence imposed at the same court on April 15 2016 for arson.

The judge who jailed him activated 12 months of that sentence as part of his overall 22-month jail term.

De Costa argued that his overall jail term was far too harsh and should be reduced.

But Mrs Justice McGowan concluded: "There is no merit in the application for leave to appeal sentence and it is refused."