A THUG who left a police officer scarred for life after attacking him with a samurai sword is facing an indefinite jail sentence on Wednesday.

The judge gave a warning about the possible sentence after Richard Skeates was convicted of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

After PC John Clark was left with a gash across his forehead, other officers seized a collection of martial arts weapons from Skeates’s home in St Hilda’s Way, Gravesend.

They included ninja stars, a smaller samurai sword, a knife, three nunchukas, two scythes and two flick knives.

It was one of the first incidents in Kent in which a head camera was used. As a result, a jury was shown footage of the victim being treated immediately afterwards in an ambulance.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how PC Clark and another officer went to 46-year-old Skeates’s home to arrest him for breaching an Anti-Social Behaviour Order imposed in May 2006, banning him from possessing weapons.

The officer said Skeates attacked him with the sword, so he used his Parva spray. It had little effect and he was then struck on the head with the weapon and left bleeding profusely. He needed eight stitches.

Skeates denied wounding with intent, claiming he injured the officer accidentally.

Adjourning sentence until today, Judge Michael Lawson, QC, said: “I have to consider the question of dangerousness and whether there should be imprisonment for public protection.

“If there is such a risk I am bound to pass an indefinite sentence, which means he is not released until it is considered he does not pose any more significant danger.”