A drunken thug threatened to stab a police officer in the neck and also hurled racist abuse at him when he was arrested.

Derek Wild was apprehended by police over an unrelated matter at his home in Gravesend but became irate with officers when they tried to detain him.

Magistrates heard he was so aggressive, officers requested a police cell van to transport him to the station.

But after being put in the back of the vehicle he announced he had a knife and was going to stab one of them in the neck.

He then racially abused an officer when he warned him to behave.

The 33-year-old was put in a holding cell at North Kent Police Station in Northfleet and asked to see the officer again. When he was told he didn’t want to speak to him, he made a second racial slur towards him.

Wild, of Gordon Place, Gravesend, was later charged with racially aggravated harassment which he admitted when he appeared in court on June 17.

The case was adjourned and Wild returned to Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on July 1 to be sentenced.

The bench heard the incident started at about 3.20am on June 15 when police arrived to arrest him.

Terry Knox, prosecuting, said: “As the van is being driven away he started threatening the driver and said ‘I’m going to knock you out.’” He also swore at him.

“He then said ‘When I get out I am going to punch you in the face, I have a knife and I am going to stab you in the neck’, all the while he was in cuffs in the back of the vehicle.

“He was warned to stop his behaviour and then said to Sergeant Patrick Mahon, ‘shut your mouth.’” He then used a racial slur.

In a victim impact statement, Sgt Mahon said he had been in the police for six years and wasn’t Asian, but shouldn’t be abused because of the colour of his skin.

The officer said it showed what kind of a man Wild was and that he couldn’t treat people the way he had.

The court heard Wild, a former boxer, had a previous conviction for racially aggravated harassment. He had also been given a 10-week suspended sentence for two years for a battery offence he committed in April last year, so was also in breach of that.

He was also jailed in 2017 for attacking a girlfriend when he smashed her face in during a heated argument, leaving her in need of reconstructive surgery.

He unleashed a single punch which shattered the woman’s cheekbone and later admitted it was probably his boxing ability that caused so much damage.

Wild had admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and criminal damage to a door and was jailed for two years and nine months.

Jack Stewart, defending, said his client had been drinking when the latest offence occurred.

He added: “He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. There was no injury and I have dealt with him before; he has a reliance on alcohol.

“You don’t have to activate the suspended sentence order, he could have a nine-month intensive Alcohol Treatment Requirement.

“It was only given to him in May [the suspended sentence] and he’s only managed one appointment, so it hasn’t had the opportunity to do its magic.

“His mum was an alcoholic and he was in care from a young age. It’s had a detrimental impact on him.

“His partner is now pregnant with his child and he knows things can’t go on as they are.

“There were no charges over the unrelated incident [he was arrested for] and alcohol led him to this and with his new outlook on life, he will put everything he can into the probation service. He doesn’t want to go down the same path as his mother.

“He’s spent three weeks in custody [on remand].”

A probation officer told the court the suspended sentence order involved Wild completing 20 rehabilitation sessions as well as 50 hours of unpaid work and he had not breached the order.

Magistrates decided not to activate the suspended sentence. They told Wild he had come very close to being sent to prison, but added that the new offence didn’t justify custody.

Instead, they added another 50 hours of unpaid work to the existing order and also put him on a 12-month community order which will see him complete a nine-month Alcohol Treatment Requirement programme.

Wild was also ordered to pay Sgt Mahon £100 compensation.