A thug who headbutted a police officer, breaking his nose, has been jailed.

James Austin violently threw his head back and struck the constable in the face as he was being handcuffed.

Officers had been called to a report of criminal damage near Talbot Road in Hawkhurst on March 9 when Austin launched his attack.

The officer suffered a 1.5 cm cut to his nose, which was also fractured.

Austin, 24, was restrained and taken into custody. He told police: "That's why I headbutted your colleague. He was in my way."

Appearing at Maidstone Crown Court, Austin, formerly of Curtisden Green, Goudhurst, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was jailed for a year.

Tunbridge Wells Chief Inspector Dave Pate said: "Police officers put themselves on the front line protecting our communities every day and any assault on an officer serves as a reminder of the very real dangers they face to keep us all safe.

"Just because they deal with violent people, however, it doesn’t mean they should expect to be assaulted while doing their job.

"In this case Austin thought nothing of deliberately injuring one of my constables. He even laughed about the incident to other officers.

"Thankfully the courts take offences against police officers extremely seriously. Hopefully Austin will use his time in prison to reflect on the fact that assaulting a police officer is actually never a laughing matter, but an extremely serious offence."