A SECURITY guard caused a £24,000 trail of destruction when he went on a violent rampage in a shopping centre he was being paid to protect.

Matthew Holly, 26, of Holmeleaze, Steeple Ashton, was working as a security guard at The Shires shopping centre in Trowbridge when he kicked in the windows of Ottakar's bookstore and the Holland & Barrett health food shop, causing £24,000 damage.

The court was shown photos of the damage caused by Holly when he was working the night shift at the shopping centre.

Anna Humphreys, prosecuting, said: "It was up to him to look after the premises."

She said Holly, who was drunk, had abused his position of trust.

The shopping centre alarms went off at 11pm and the police arrived to find bloody footprints through the centre.

They led officers to Holly, who had a foot covered in blood from kicking it through a glass shop front.

When arrested, Holly shouted abuse at the police, saying he would burn one officer's house and hurt his children.

Holly was having trouble at home and said he had experienced a blackout that night, and could not remember what happened, but admitted he had kicked in 'a lot' of windows.

The two shops were forced to close for a day following the rampage so staff could mop up pools of blood, repair damaged displays and get broken windows replaced. They were left counting the cost of a day's lost trade.

Holly pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal damage in Chippenham Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Suzanne Gardner, defending, said both shops were covered by insurance and the damage looked worse than it was.

She also said Holly, who is now unemployed, would not be able to pay a large fine.

She said: "Any sizable compensation order is going to take him many years to pay off."

Chairman of the bench Priscilla Gray said: "We are rather concerned that this was fuelled by alcohol.

"It was a breach of trust and the damage was very serious."

Holly is due to appear at Chippenham Magistrates Court again on July 20, when an all-options report from the probation service, including the possibility of prison, will be considered before he is sentenced.

He was released until then on unconditional bail.