A terrified mother and her teenage daughter had to seek refuge in a dentist surgery after being pursued and "growled" at by a shirtless and shoeless stranger.

The pair had initially been targeted by Paul Jarvis, who was also swigging alcohol, after they pulled up in Trinity Road car park in Sheerness in July last year.

Having approached their vehicle, he began shouting aggressively at them, causing them to fear he would break a window, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

He then moved away, enabling them to get out of the car and head to a dentist appointment.

But prosecutor Ethan Dighton said the teenager then realised Jarvis was walking closely behind them and growling.

"He shouted at them, causing them to run into the dentist where staff had to lock the door to stop him from getting in," he told the court.

Jarvis was spotted again when they left the car park and so police were called.

However, as officers tried to arrest the 46-year-old, he reacted violently by headbutting one and then later spitting on the floor of the police vehicle.

‘You are now strong, straight-backed and clear of eye…’

The court heard it was not the first time he had targeted emergency workers with his aggressive behaviour, having kicked another officer in the chest while under arrest eight months earlier.

Then, on June 4 this year after being arrested for thieving cans of beer from the Co-op in Sheerness High Street, he spat on a police vehicle door, threatened to kick a constable in the face, and then bit another on the arm.

However, the prolific crook was soon back on the streets and a week later subjecting residents at Georgia Lodge, a gated apartment block in Duncan Road, Gillingham, to his frightening, drunken antics.

"Having gained entry to the secure car park, an occupant came out and was told by the defendant 'I'll kill you and your family unless you let me in,'," explained Mr Dighton.

"Out of fear she let him into the block where he then kicked the door to number two, shouting 'I'll kill you, I'll kill you all. Number two you're dead!'"

Police were called and as Jarvis was handcuffed he became agitated, slapped one officer in the face and struck another.

He then resorted to homophobic abuse, using the slur "f****t" as he was taken to the ground.

The court heard Jarvis, formerly from Sheerness but now of Nelson Road, Gillingham, did not know either the woman who let him into Georgia Lodge or the occupants at number two.

With a staggering 68 crimes to his name already, he later admitted five offences of assault on an emergency worker, four of shoplifting, two for threatening behaviour, two for criminal damage, one charge of common assault and one of failing to surrender to court bail.

Some of the earlier offences had also been committed while he was subject to a suspended jail term.

But at his sentencing hearing on November 11, the court was told of a very different man to the one who had embarked on a one-man crime wave.

Adrian Rohard, defending, said life had gone on "a downward spiral" for the environmental driller, who once earned £4,000 a month, after he was stopped from seeing his young son.

Turning to drink and drugs to cope, he lost his job and, coupled with mental health issues that had never been addressed, he started offending.

However, since his remand in custody, the court was told Jarvis had become a mentor with prison charity, the Shannon Trust, and completed numerous courses to address problems with addiction, alcohol and anger.

"He describes himself as being the most highly motivated he has ever been," added Mr Rohard. "The delay in coming to court has worked to his advantage."

Jarvis was himself apologetic and, speaking directly to the judge, said: "I'm truly disgusted with my behaviour and, with the amount of drugs and alcohol I was under, have no recollection of what I was doing.

"I was in a really dark place. None of them deserved what happened to them in the slightest. Why I did what I did I have no knowledge, that's the honest truth.

"It's appalling, I regret doing it and I know I will never be in that frame of mind again."

In deciding the appropriate punishment, Judge Julian Smith admitted he was "puzzled to some extent" by Jarvis.

He said that although prior to his latest offences he had been "working hard, with good employment, and doing well", his subsequent "bizarre, unjustified and persistently aggressive" behaviour would have caused "shock, fear and distress".

Referring in particular to the car park incident, the judge told Jarvis: "You were not just a nuisance but an intimidating and frightening presence in Sheerness and you deserve to be in custody for your behaviour, and you have been for five months."

But with that all said, he concluded that further time behind bars was not needed and imposed a two-year community order with 30 rehabilitation activity requirements, mental health and alcohol treatment programmes, and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Explaining why he was sparing Jarvis jail, Judge Smith said: "You are now strong, straight-backed and clear of eye; a description very different to you on the occasions when you have shown such aggression and lack of control.

"You want to move forward and I'm exceptionally going to give you that chance...What you deserve is prison. What I'm doing is giving you a chance."

But, having been thanked by Jarvis, he warned: "I wish you well - it won't be straightforward, it won't be easy. It will ask a lot of you."