Horrified guests watched a drunk dad smash up an Indian restaurant and threaten to stab the owner with cutlery after racking up a £170 tab.

Jack Malt, of Ashford, destroyed glassware, punched the owner in the face and kicked a hole in the wall of the town’s Indian Diner in the Lower High Street.

The 29-year-old and his friend wreaked anarchy after his bank card declined when he attempted to settle the "very large bill".

The father-of-three was handed a suspended prison sentence at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday, where details of the fracas surfaced.

Malt launched a volley of glasses at walls, lashed out at Fayez Knoor, then grabbed and threatened to stab him with a butter knife.

Just before the pair left without paying, Malt kicked a hole in the wall, prosecutors said.

“The defendant and his friend went to the Indian Diner and ran up a bill of £176.30 they were asked to settle at least part of the bill if they wished to be served more, but the card was declined,” prosecutor Caroline Knight explained.

“When staff pressed them for a different card or cash the situation escalated.”

The court heard the father-of-three was previously jailed following a brawl in The George Hotel in 2018.

The railway worker, who has 28 convictions for 53 offences, told the court he had been “an idiot".

Representing himself, Malt said he could “only apologise for my actions - acting like an idiot," after the ordeal on October 7, 2020.

“I’ve changed my life around now, my head is in the right place now," he added.

'It wasn’t long until glasses were being thrown...'

“I used to be bad on the drink but I've been clean on the alcohol for the first time."

Judge Rupert Lowe said the “extremely frightening and distressing” episode warranted an immediate spell in prison.

But he said he would follow advice from the probation service to help Malt contribute positively to society.

The judge also pointed out there had been a 22-month delay in getting the case to court, which means sentencing should - “in an ideal world” - have tied in with sentencing for the George Hotel offences.

Handing down 16 months suspended for two years, Judge Lowe continued: “You and a friend went to an Indian restaurant called the Indian Diner where you ordered large amounts of food and drink, racking up a bill of £176.30, which is a very large bill for two people at an Indian restaurant.

“Mr Knoor, along with his staff, decided for you to pay up to that point, before they served you any more drinks.

“And you did indeed provide your card but the card you provided was declined and that situation produced an argument where you and Mr Little, but principally you, became angry and aggressive.

“It wasn’t long until glasses were being thrown around the restaurant."

That was an extremely frightening, abusive and distressing episode for Mr Knoor and for everyone else who was in the restaurant at the time.”

Malt, of Newenden Close, was ordered to pay £1,000 compensation at £100 a month, £340 costs, and complete 30 days of probation.

He pleaded guilty to making off without payment, criminal damage, common assault and threatening another with a bladed article at an early opportunity.