A 101-year-old woman had to be locked in a toilet at a care home for 20 minutes to keep her safe from a drunken racist from Ipswich who smashed his way into the building.

Sean Smith had drunk four bottles of whisky before he broke the back door of the Aveland Care Home in Torquay at 3.00am and confronted a female care worker and the 101-year-old.

He shouted "on the floor" at them but was then grabbed by a male carer who Smith attacked and subjected to a torrent of racial abuse.

The elderly woman was taken to a toilet and locked in there while the worker overpowered Smith and sat on him until police arrived 20 minutes later.

Smith, who has a previous conviction for a racially aggravated attack, told police he was looking for a friend’s house but got confused after a two day whisky binge.

The 23-year-old from Ipswich but who was staying at Lichfield Road, Torquay, admitted racially aggravated battery and criminal damage to the back door.

He was jailed for 16 weeks by Recorder Mr Mathew Turner at Exeter Crown Court, but will be released within days because he has been in custody since his arrest on February 13.

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said a nurse who was with the 101-year-old resident heard a loud crash in the middle of the night and was confronted by a stranger.

She was shocked and worried about the safety of the resident but was joined by another member of staff who was ushering Smith out of the building when he was attacked. Smith punched him in the face, causing a bloody nose.

The victim then overpowered Smith and knelt on him on the floor while being subjected to a torrent of racist abuse.

Miss Bolt said: “The elderly resident had to be kept in a toilet for her own safety until police arrived.”

Mr Paul Dentith, defending, said Smith had recently been released from another sentence and was doing well until his aunt died a few days earlier, leading to him "falling off the wagon".

He plans to leave Devon and rejoin his family in Suffolk as soon as he is released, the court heard.