A Gillingham man is avoiding jail after following mother and daughter and attacking police officers

A terrified mother and her teenage daughter were forced to seek refuge in a dental office after being chased and “snarled” by a shirtless and shoeless stranger.

The pair had initially been targeted by Paul Jarvis, who was also drinking alcohol, after they stopped in the car park on Trinity Road in Sheerness in July last year.

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

He then left so they could get out of the car and go to a dentist appointment.

But prosecutor Ethan Dighton said the teen then realized Jarvis was walking right behind them and was growling.

“He shouted at them, causing them to run into the dentist, where staff had to lock the door to prevent him from entering,” he told the court.

Jarvis was spotted again as they left the parking lot and so the police were called.

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

“You are strong now, straight-backed and clear-eyed…”

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

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

However, the prolific thug was soon back on the streets and a week later he subjected residents of Georgia Lodge, a gated apartment block on Duncan Road, Gillingham, to his terrifying, drunken antics.

“Upon gaining access to the secure car park, a resident came outside and was told by the defendant: ‘I will kill you and your family unless you let me in’,” Mr Dighton explained.

“Out of fear, she let him into the block, where he then kicked the door of number two and shouted, ‘I’m killing you, I’m killing you all. Number two, you’re dead!'”

The police were called and when Jarvis was handcuffed, he became agitated, punching one officer in the face and punching another.

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

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

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

Some of the previous offenses had also been committed while he was subject to a suspended prison sentence.

But at his sentencing hearing on November 11, the court was told that this was a very different man from the one who started a one-man crime spree.

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

He turned to drink and drugs to cope, lost his job and, coupled with mental health issues that had never been addressed, he started committing crimes.

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

“He describes himself as the most motivated he has ever been,” Mr Rohard added. “The delay in appearing in court worked to his advantage.”

Jarvis himself apologized and, speaking directly to the judge, said: ‘I am truly disgusted by my behavior and, given the amount of drugs and alcohol I took, I cannot remember what I did.

“I was in a very dark place. None of them deserved what happened to them in the slightest. I don’t know why I did what I did, that’s the honest truth.

“It’s horrible, I regret doing it and I know I’ll never be in that state of mind again.”

In determining the appropriate sentence, Judge Julian Smith admitted he was “to some extent astonished” by Jarvis.

He said that although he had “worked hard, had a good job and was doing well” prior to his latest offences, his subsequent “bizarre, unjustified and persistently aggressive” behavior would have caused “shock, fear and distress”.

Referring specifically to the car park incident, the judge told Jarvis: “You were not only a nuisance but an intimidating and frightening presence in Sheerness and you deserve to be remanded in custody for your conduct, and you already are five months.”

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

Explaining why he spared Jarvis prison, Judge Smith said: ‘You are now strong, straight-lined and clear-eyed; a description very different from yours on the occasions when you have shown such aggression and lack of control.

“You want to move forward and I am going to exceptionally give you that chance… What you deserve is prison. What I am doing is giving you a chance.”

But after being thanked by Jarvis, he warned: “I wish you the best – it won’t be easy, it won’t be easy. It’ll take a lot out of you.”