A prolific criminal saw his record stretch to 241 offences after a town centre brawl landed him in court.

Appearing at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court, homeless John Sweeney, 33, admitted possession of a knife, two counts of racially aggravated harassment and assaulting a police officer.

Andrew Jones, prosecuting, told the court the charges followed a late-night bust-up in Week Street, Maidstone, earlier this month which was caught in its entirety on CCTV.

Police were first alerted to the incident when victim Adedayo Fadeyi phoned them to say Sweeney was threatening him.

Footage shows Sweeney, whose criminal record covers 30 pages, repeatedly running towards Mr Fadeyi and acting aggressively outside KFC.

Near McDonald’s, Sweeney took a knife from his back pocket and pressed it flat against an onlooker’s chest.

Mr Jones said: “The unknown man raises both hands as if to say ‘I don’t want anything to do with this’, the knife falls to the floor and is kicked into the gutter.

“The defendant then chases Mr Fadeyi again and blows are exchanged. It’s fair to say Mr Fadeyi is giving as good as he gets. The defendant then takes another man’s walking stick and starts swinging it at Mr Fadeyi before throwing it at him. Mr Fadeyi then picks it up and approaches Sweeney with it cocked behind his head.”

The court was told Sweeney can be heard racially abusing Mr Fadeyi and telling him to “get out of this country”, before the fighting stops when a cyclist intervenes.

Mr Jones added: “Sweeney then takes the walking stick again and tracks the victim to the top of Gabriels Hill where another member of the public and then police intervene.

“Sweeney racially abused PC Rehman. He was arrested and continued to behave aggressively in custody, attempting to headbutt a female officer and shouting more racist abuse at Mr Fadeyi who had also been arrested.”

Jag Takk, defending, said Sweeney, who has issues with alcohol, and the victim both slept rough and were usually friends but had a “minor and irrelevant falling out which escalated”.

The court heard the minimum punishment was six months in prison but magistrates passed sentencing to the crown court as they felt their powers weren’t sufficient. He was remanded in custody to appear on a date to be decided.