A DRIVER caused thousands of pounds worth of damage by deliberately smashing a car into a hotel earmarked by the Government as an induction centre for asylum seekers, a court heard.

Minutes earlier Joseph Williams he had driven the Peugeot 405 through the front doors of the nearby Sittingboutrne Police Station, causing damage estimated at £5,000.

Williams was jailed for a year after admitting aggravated vehicle taking, destroying property, racially aggravated destroying of property, driving with excess alcohol and having no insurance.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Williams had been depressed about the recent death of his father and his ex-girlfriend Anna, who was killed in a car crash.

He had been out celebrating his 20th birthday on January 30 and then took the car, which belonged to his mother's boyfriend. He left behind a note saying: "Sorry mum, gone to be with Anna."

Trevor Wright, prosecuting, said Williams drove the car into the police station in Sittingbourne's Central Avenue, at about 4am the next morning, causing extensive damage.

Twenty minutes later a porter at the Coniston Hotel in London Road saw the car demolish two sections of wooden fencing.

When the police arrived Williams was using a claw hammer and wheelbrace to smash the remaining glass in greenhouses.

"There was extensive damage to the front of the car caused by being used as a battering ram," said Mr Wright. "There was extensive damage to two greenhouses and two sections of fencing. The front of the vehicle had two gaping holes."

After making a comment about asylum seekers, Williams added: "My mum's boyfriend ain't going to be too happy either. It's his car."

Mr Wright said CCTV film showed the car ramming the police station doors four times. The total cost of repairs was nearly £5,000. The estimate for the hotel damage was £10,000.

Williams, of Cavell Way, Sittingbourne, had a number of previous convictions for violence, drugs and theft. James Sutherland, defending, said Williams had been thinking about his ex-girlfriend and had been given his late father's mobile phone, which had his voice on it.

Also banning Williams from driving for 18 months, Judge Neligan told him: "This really was a night of madness that owes something, if not everything, to drink taken."

Plans to house asylum seekers at the hotel after it was sold were dropped by the Government following a number of heated protests by local residents. Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes revealed that a contract with the owners to use some of the room there for asylum seekers was being terminated.