A former British Army soldier is facing jail after he assaulted a security guard and smashed a window at a hotel housing migrants at a time when the country was said to be plagued by "bulk fury".

Michael Tart, who served with the Royal Artillery, targeted the Ashford guest house seven days after the tragic killings of three young girls in Southport.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that on August 4, the 38-year-old was "brazen enough" to go to the hotel knowing migrants were living there and make racial comments immediately before he "shoved" Ali Mohammad and broke a glass window pane.

Tart, of Nine Acres in Kennington, Ashford, was arrested under what has become known as Operation Hockey - the nationwide police investigation into the public disorder that erupted in response to the alleged murders in the Merseyside town last month.

Prosecutor Ethan Dighton said during legal proceedings today that the offences were committed during "the peak" of the widespread unrest and violence.

But it was accepted that although Tart had admitted offences of affray, racially aggravated common assault and racially aggravated criminal damage, they were in fact racially motivated.

Sentencing was adjourned until November 14 for a psychiatric report and a probation report.

James Burke, defending, told the court that having served in Cyprus and Iraq between 2002 and 2009, Tart had been diagnosed in 2014 with post-traumatic stress disorder.

His symptoms include anxiety, memory loss, panic and nightmares.

The lawyer added that there may be a link between Tart's mental health issues and the offending behaviour, but he argued that any of the racial language used by him was not directed at the security guard Mr Mohammad.

"He has gone along to a hotel and there are people within that hotel in respect of which language was being used," Mr Burke explained.

"He has accepted people in the hotel might also be defined to be victims of the offence.

He has accepted people in the hotel might also be defined to be victims of the offence...

"He is someone deeply ashamed and he totally regrets what he has done."

Tart was released on bail by Judge Simon Taylor KC, who had remarked at the start of the hearing that Operation Hockey cases were those committed "when the nation was beset by bulk fury and an epidemic of violent disorder".

The hotel targeted by Tart was one of two in Kent taken over by the Home Office to resettle people fleeing Afghanistan during the 2021 Taliban takeover.

However, in September last year it was announced the venue was to be reopened to the public.

Ashford Borough Council confirmed that a total of 300 Afghan refugees were placed in the hotel during that two-year period.