Packer later told police he had lashed out because his friend "went to hit my bird".

But at his sentencing hearing on Tuesday (October 28), a judge told him that not only had his girlfriend initiated the violence but that he had a "concerning pattern" of offending behaviour whereby he felt "entitled" to take the law into his own hands.

Packer had originally been charged with wounding with intent but the Crown accepted a guilty plea to the less serious, alternative offence of wounding on the first day of trial.

Prosecutor Ethan Dighton said the victim, Lee Martin, had been drinking with Packer and his girlfriend Michelle Moore at Packer's home in Victoria Street on the afternoon of March 4.

As they sat in the living room, a row broke out and Ms Moore punched Mr Martin to the face, leaving him feeling shocked and telling her to "F*** off".

But as he stood up and went to move her out of his way, Packer picked up the bottle and hit him over the head, causing a heavily bleeding wound and the weapon to smash as it landed on the floor.

"In fear of being attacked further, Mr Martin pushed the defendant by his shoulders onto the sofa in an attempt to pin him down, at which point Mr Packer took the broken neck of the bottle and attempted to stab him with it once more," explained the prosecutor.

He went to hit my bird, so I bottled him...

However, the court heard Mr Martin managed to flee the property before suffering further injury and was taken in by neighbours.

Police attended and found blood outside Packer's house. He then told officers: "He went to hit my bird so I bottled him."

Although he subsequently gave a 'No comment' interview, a message was found on his phone, sent to a friend on the night of the attack, saying "Just bottled Lee".

The court heard Packer, who has 15 convictions for 42 offences and was once told by a judge he had "contributed substantially" to the death of his son in a fatal crash, had been made subject to a hospital order by the same court in August 2021.

This was in respect of a conviction for wounding after he swung a knife at a man during a bust-up in Invicta Road, Sheerness, in June 2020, and left him with a large gash that needed 11 stitches.

At the time of that sentencing hearing, the judge was told that although Packer had "partially responded" to treatment, he continued to have delusional beliefs and limited insight into his offending.

It is not known when doctors decided he was fit to leave the psychiatric unit in Hermitage Lane, but the court was told last week that under his release he was required to undergo regular drug tests.

Mr Dighton said despite this restriction, Packer was intoxicated when he carried out his attack, albeit unplanned.

On the subject of any danger posed to the public, the barrister highlighted the concerns raised in a probation report.

"The risk is not manageable in the community and there is now a record of violent offending over a 20-year period in which the defendant has repeatedly inflicted really serious harm on a number of people, and while subject to those restrictions at the Trevor Gibbens Unit," he told the court.

"It is our submission that there seems to be a worrying trend."

​In mitigation, Packer's lawyer Kerry Waitt said the defendant had been making good progress under the drug monitoring condition and those responsible for his supervision "had not perceived him to be such a risk requiring recall".

He also told the court that having now spent seven months in custody since arrest, Packer was at risk of losing the tenancy on what had been his "lifelong" home.

Of the attack itself, Mr Waitt said Packer had "overreacted, to put it mildly", at what he perceived as being the victim about to assault his partner.

But on the issue of dangerousness, he added: "The offence occurred at his home address - he didn't go out in public with a knife or other weapon intent on violence.

"It was a situation that erupted and to which he overreacted within his home, as opposed to going out and representing a danger to members of the public."

However, in deciding that an extended sentence for public protection was necessary, Recorder Amy Packham pointed out it was not the first time in the courts that Packer had claimed to have acted in defence of a girlfriend.

Concerned about what she described as his sense of entitlement to resort to violence "when he perceives someone close to him has been wronged," she said: "There is a pattern of you feeling it is your role to take the law into your own hands and a feeling that you are entitled to act in that way and, in some way, entitled to inflict violence on others if you deem their behaviour is wrong.

"On the facts of this case, it was your partner who had punched Mr Martin in the face first."

Recorder Packham added that although the victim had been fortunate to escape further attack and further injury after being struck with the bottle, he had been impacted "physically, mentally and emotionally".

In reaching her decision to impose a 51-month extended sentence, despite the mitigation advanced and the "disruptive" effect of losing his home, the judge said she was "in no doubt" that Packer posed a significant risk of serious harm to the public.

“Packer has proven himself to be a serious danger to people around him, so we’re very glad to see him behind bars…”

His sentence comprises a 27-month jail term with an additional two years on licence when released.

Packer, who in 2005 was convicted of supplying his 18-year-old son Danny with heroin the day before he died in a car smash in Marine Parade, Sheerness, was also handed a seven-year restraining order banning him from contacting Mr Martin.

Following the sentencing, investigating officer DC Catherine Massey said: “Packer has proven himself to be a serious danger to people around him, so we’re very glad to see him behind bars.

“For him to commit such horrific violence towards someone he claimed to be friends with is a particularly chilling aspect of this crime.

“I hope he uses his time in prison to reflect on his actions and amend his ways.”