A yob who stabbed a bouncer moments after knifing a man at least four times in a Kent nightclub asked a judge to show him leniency so he could be “a better dad” to his baby girl.

Jaden Cashin lashed out "indiscriminately" at Ramsgate's Clique Bar, leaving one reveller with multiple wounds and a doorman needing surgery for an injury to his bowel.

Canterbury Crown Court heard he had later contacted one of his victims, offering to remunerate him for lost wages and asking whether he was pressing charges.

But although he was not charged with trying to thwart a prosecution and it was accepted he had not started the trouble, the 23-year-old was described as being "prone to using violence without thought or regard to others".

On jailing him, Judge Alison Russell told the young father: "The carrying of knives by young men is a scourge upon modern society.

"People attending a bar should not have to worry about whether others present have a knife - a knife they are willing to produce and use in the course of a scuffle.

"And even if you were provoked and even if [the victim] threw the first punch, the pulling of a knife takes your culpability into something far more serious. This is not excessive self-defence."

The court heard the violence erupted between Cashin and another regular customer, Harry Henson, at the Harbour Parade venue in the early hours of January 28 this year.

CCTV captured an "animated" Cashin at the bar, "trying to make a point", said prosecutor Paul Valder, when Mr Henson intervened and appeared to usher him towards the exit.

However, it was said Mr Henson was "pursuing an argument" and, as they squared up to each other, he punched Cashin twice, triggering a fight as others crowded round.

"A number of blows were exchanged and the defendant produced a knife, lunging towards Mr Henson a number of times and inflicting a number of wounds," explained Mr Valder.

Having seen the fight break out, doorman Ben Pasand tried to intervene. But the court heard he was also stabbed during the fracas.

"He felt a hard punch to his stomach but carried on with what he had to do and called for assistance," explained the prosecutor.

"Mr Pasand separated the two males and saw Mr Henson stumble over to the other side of the bar. He had blood on his clothing and was going into shock."

Cashin fled the bar - zipping up his jacket and pulling up the hood as he did so - and left Mr Henson saying he had been stabbed and needed help.

It was only then as Mr Pasand dialled 999 that he noticed he too had been wounded.

"He realised that he had a large gash to his jacket which he opened and saw an injury to his stomach and, as he put it, subcutaneous tissue poking out of the wound," said Mr Valder.

Both he and Mr Henson were taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where Mr Pasand required surgery to his bowel.

He was left bed-bound, on a liquid diet, and unable to work for several days.

In a victim impact statement, he described feeling "frustrated" by his physical incapacity at the time and explained how, as the sole earner, he and his family would be affected financially.

But the court heard that Cashin, having tracked down the doorman's number, contacted him and offered to make up for his loss of earnings.

Mr Valder said: "In a further statement [to police], Mr Pasand says the defendant went out of his way to speak to him.

"[Cashin] got hold of his number and they had two lengthy conversations. Mr Pasand, rightly or wrongly, took it as an attempt to bribe him. He said 'His intentions were clear to me'."

The prosecutor added that, having listened to the recordings, there was not only "a clear offer to remunerate" the bouncer but also questions from Cashin about what his intentions were and what he had told police.

Mr Henson suffered knife wounds to his arms and abdomen but was not willing to support the prosecution, the court heard.

Cashin, of Beatrice Road, was arrested five weeks later following a Kent Police 'Wanted' appeal and subsequently admitted unlawfully wounding Mr Pasand and wounding Mr Henson with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

His previous convictions include numerous offences of violence, and in July 2020 he had been handed a four-year custodial sentence for his involvement in a gang knife attack in Harbour Street, Ramsgate.

At the start of mitigation for the Clique Bar stabbings, his lawyer Oliver Kirk said it was "quite clear" that an immediate jail term was inevitable.

"This is an incident which resulted from him going out with a knife and going into a club with a knife, albeit he was not looking for trouble but rather found trouble," he added.

"It was he who was attacked and punched first, at least twice before he responded. He accepts his response was completely disproportionate to the threat that he faced and grossly so."

But Mr Kirk said Cashin had shown remorse and insight, and was now "motivated to be the father he didn't have" for his young daughter.

He then read out a letter in which Cashin stated he had matured while being held on remand and wanted to "turn his life around" for the sake of his family.

"I really feel my life is changing and my attitude towards people is so much better," he said.

"I have a beautiful eight-month-old daughter who is my absolute world and I cannot wait to be the dad I'm supposed to be.

"I'm absolutely focused now on being a dad, providing for my family and turning my life around.

"I want to prove to you, my family and myself that I can and will be better."

Mr Kirk explained that the offer of remuneration was made in an "apologetic" call and was a sign of the defendant's immaturity at the time rather than an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

But on jailing Cashin for four-and-a-half years, Judge Russell said although she had heard much about his remorse and regret, that had to be set against what she had read in a report prepared for the sentencing hearing of his attempts to minimise his offending.

"You blame Mr Henson - if you hadn't been assaulted first this wouldn't have happened," she revealed.

"But Mr Henson didn't go to a bar carrying a knife. You did and, as probation note, the use of violence and the carrying of weapons appears to have become normalised for you."

The judge also told the thug that although the injuries sustained were not life-threatening, he would not have been aware of that fact as he inflicted them.

"You stabbed indiscriminately causing multiple wounds. Any one could have been fatal and could have seen you standing in the dock facing more serious charges," she added.

"It is clear to me that you are, or at least were then, a man prone to using violence without thought or regard for others."

Judge Russell also dismissed his difficult upbringing, as well as his drink and drug-related lifestyle, as an excuse for his behaviour.

"There are many people who experience that regrettably, but they don't go around carrying knives to nightclubs on a normal night out."