A knifeman threatened to kill his neighbour in a violent and abusive confrontation over birthday party decorations.

An irate Philip Goldson had only been out of prison for less than two months and was living in Chatham when he overreacted to banging noises from the upstairs flat.

The 57-year-old, who had been released from a 12-year jail term for attacking a friend with a golf club, armed himself with the weapon, brandishing it on his doorstep at Marek Balog.

The aggressive encounter then escalated and "exploded" when Mr Balog's father Jozef arrived on the scene, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

Footage filmed by another neighbour captured Goldson, once videoed racially abusing a woman in the company of her two children on a train, brandishing the knife as he ranted and swore.

Dressed in a vest and shorts, he shouted at the two frightened men: "You lot think I'm a w***er. F*** off! Call the old bill. Leave me alone you c***s! I'll kill the f***ing lot of you.

"You come round here threatening me. You threaten me, I'll kill you. F*** off! Go away, go away and leave me alone.

"I'm quiet, I'm a good neighbour. F*** off! F*** off!....Leave me alone, leave me alone. I ain't caused no problem with you. Leave me alone."

He then retreated back into his flat, closing the door behind him. But when police arrived and went into his property, he still had the knife in his hand.

The court heard Marek Balog's mother and daughter, for whom the decorations were being put up, were also present during the outburst on May 5 last year.

Goldson, who has 21 previous convictions for 39 offences including many for violence, later admitted making threats to kill Marek Balog and threatening Marek Balog and Jozef Balog with a bladed article in a public place.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis which was found when police searched his home in Coronation Road.

The dad of three had only been out on licence since March 29 last year when he was said to have "come out fighting" and the confrontation flared.

Prosecutor Alban Brahimi told the court at Goldson's sentencing hearing on Tuesday (October 29) that Marek Balog and his wife were preparing for their daughter's birthday celebrations by hanging balloons and other decorations.

In response to the hammering sound, Goldson banged on his ceiling - the floor of his neighbour's home.

Mr Balog then went downstairs to check on the noise, only to be greeted by Goldson saying 'Why are you banging on the walls? I will kill you. I will send someone to kill you', explained Mr Brahimi.

The concerned neighbour returned home and contacted his father, who lived nearby and arrived at the flats with his wife.

But as his son opened his door to them, Goldson came out of his flat and, confronting them with the blade, yelled: "F***ing c***s, I'm not scared of you. I will kill you. Go away and leave me alone."

He then continued with his foul-mouthed rant, recorded from an upstairs window, for about a minute.

The court heard that although Goldson was still wielding the knife in his flat when officers arrived, he was immediately compliant with their order to drop it.

He gave what was described as a "largely no comment" interview and was recalled to prison where he now faces serving the remainder of his 12-year sentence imposed in 2017, and which will not expire until 2029.

Marek Balog, his partner and their child moved home as a consequence of the confrontation. In a victim impact statement read to the court, he described feeling "scared and in danger".

"My daughter and my wife were crying and I felt scared for them too....I was shaking and in fear," he added.

His father told police in his statement that he was "very worried" for their safety, and did not believe he had provoked Goldson.

"Sometimes I wonder what could have happened and that we could have been murdered," Jozef Balog added.

During Goldson's time awaiting sentence over the neighbour row, his barrister Isobel McCarroll said the mechanic, whose criminal record was rooted in alcohol misuse, had reflected on why the incident may have occurred.

She told the court he suspected Mr Balog and his family did not want him living there, knowing he was an ex-offender.

But Ms McCarroll added it was an incident he "deeply regrets", considering how well he had been doing in that short period of time out of prison, engaging with probation and complying with his supervision requirements.

"He had been given his own accommodation for the first time, something he had always wanted - his own kitchen, his own space," she said.

"He had registered with a GP, registered with a dentist and found work as a gardener. He felt he had really reached a turning point.

"He now finds himself in this position where he reacts to the neighbour and banging upstairs."

The barrister added however that although it was the Balogs who had gone to the defendant's flat and Goldson was "not expecting a confrontation", he accepted full responsibility for his behaviour.

Asked by the judge about his assertion to the author of a pre-sentence report that there were "eight people at his door and his neighbour was determined to cause trouble and get him out", Ms McCarroll said it was "no more than a suspicion".

"What Mr Goldson has thought after the event is whether the neighbour wanted him out because they knew he was housed there by probation services, knowing he had been released from prison," she explained.

"But it's no more than that. It's a suspicion on his part and also looking regretfully at the situation.

"It's a case of him looking back and thinking how it all went wrong. A lot of things don't make sense to him at all how it all exploded in the moment."

The court heard that while serving at Swaleside Prison in Sheppey, he has worked in the engineering department for more than seven years and is a mentor to other inmates.

It was also said he had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, with the delay in court proceedings not his fault.

But on deciding Goldson was a "dangerous" offender, Recorder James Dawes KC said an extended sentence totalling five-and-a-half years was needed to protect the public from a significant risk of serious harm.

Jailing him for two-and-a-half years, with a further three years added to any licence period, the judge said he "only had himself to blame" for what happened when he "came out fighting" while wielding a knife "of some considerable length".

"I'm told he was really hoping he could have a place of his own, live in the community, and not be bothered by anyone, and this has been a desire of his for a very long time," remarked Recorder Dawes.

"I completely accept that, but the way in which Mr Goldson reacted on this day was completely out of proportion to any threat being offered to him.

"You have to understand Mr Goldson that neighbours sometimes annoy each other. It doesn't mean neighbours should threaten each other."

The judge did however accept that there was "an element of fear" for the defendant too and wanting to be left alone, and that he did not know Mr Balog's daughter was present.

But he described Goldson's "rigid mindset" as "a dangerous thing to have", and that the offences were aggravated by his record of violent offending dating back more than 35 years and the fact he was on licence at the time.

In February 2016 he was jailed for making racially aggravated threats after footage emerged of him aggressively telling a train passenger she had no right to be in the UK and needed to change her infant's nappy.

The golf club attack on a friend was committed on Christmas Day that same year.

Goldson, who was later convicted of wounding with intent, repeatedly struck the man, leaving him with an exposed scalp, memory problems, and needing care and assistance.

Explaining why it was necessary to impose the sentence that he had, Recorder Dawes said: "It's been submitted that because you are remorseful and because you have already been returned to prison, the public will be protected without the addition of an extended licence period.

"You have a problem with alcohol and that problem is long-standing. You may perhaps never get rid of your problem with alcohol."

Goldson will have to serve a minimum of 20 months of the 30-month jail term before he can apply for parole, and will only be released if it was deemed safe to do so.

Due to the fact he has been recalled on licence, none of the time already served for the latest offences will count towards his sentence.

Goldson was also given a six-year restraining order banning him from contacting the Balogs or going to any address where they may be living or present.