An assistant manager at a Premier Inn admitted assaulting train staff and spitting at a police sergeant after he was stopped for fare-dodging.

Ricky Small, 23, of Jeffery Street, Gillingham, travelled from Gillingham to Rochester when platform staff approached him to see if he had a valid ticket.

He was talking on his mobile phone and staff asked him to put it down so they could talk to him, but he became confrontational.

Small, who works for Premier Inn at its hotel next to the Manor Farm pub in Rainham, then claimed he was a trainee barrister and shouted at them to back off or they would lose their jobs.

He continued to ignore the staff and as a train pulled into the station, he jumped on it.

The three staff members followed him before he became more aggressive, swearing and shouting and telling them not to touch him, a court heard.

He squared up to one of them and then started throwing punches before hurling one of their radios onto the the rail tracks. He then tried to headbutt an off-duty police officer who came to their aid.

After being detained he continued to struggle and later back at the police station he spat at a custody sergeant.

He was charged with three counts of assault on train staff, one assaulting a police officer and travelling on a railway without paying the fare. Small appeared before magistrates in Medway where he pleaded guilty.

Rebecca Halliwell, defending, said: “He has a very good position...as assistant manager and accepts full responsible for his wrong-doing on a reckless basis. “It was an unpleasant incident and he feels ashamed.

“He has a record, but has not been in trouble since 2009 and was convicted in 2010.”

He will be sentenced on Tuesday, March 8.