A burglar who punched and kicked his partner to the face after she reported him to the police has been jailed.

David Francis, of Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors, ‘belly-bounced’ the victim into her front door before punching her to the head, grabbing her by the hair and kicking her to the face, a court heard.

When she later tried to break up with him he bombarded her with dozens of phone calls and texts.

Father-of-four Francis pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to ABH, common assault and harassment and separate offences of burglary.

He was also found guilty after a trial of theft and fraud and jailed for 22 months and given an indefinite restraining order.

David Toal, prosecuting, told the court how Francis turned up at his partner’s house shortly after committing a burglary and found her hiding under a bed and calling the police.

The court heard how Francis was arrested and bailed and the next day he returned to the house and ‘accused her of betraying him’ to the police.

Mr Toal said she was ‘petrified’ and tried to escape but Francis ‘belly-bounced’ her against the door before attacking her.

The court heard how Francis, 35, locked the front door before starting to ‘act normally as if everything was fine’ and saying he ‘shouldn’t have kicked her’.

Mr Toal said the victim was ‘putting on a brave face’ and told Francis that ‘it was her own fault she got assaulted’ and that she ‘still wanted them to be a family’.

The court heard how Francis and the victim carried on living together at the house for several more days until she told him they should break up.

The incident was reported to the police and the victim also revealed she had been attacked on another occasion two months earlier.

The court heard that he put his hands over her mouth and ‘pinned her up against a cupboard’.

When Francis was arrested he was bailed with conditions not to contact the victim but then sent her 16 calls and 38 texts over several days.

He was later caught red-handed stealing power tools and equipment from a former NHS building and a furniture business after the victims snapped him on their mobile phones.

The former NHS building on Whalley Road in Clayton-le-Moors, which at the time was being turned into a house, was broken into at around 6.40pm on July 1 last year.

The court heard how Tariq Ali, who was employed as a builder, went to check on the property and arrived to find Francis climbing out of an upstairs window onto a ledge holding a plaster mixer.

Mr Ali took a picture of him on his iPhone before Francis climbed back inside and fled through a rear door.

Whalley Road in Clayton-le-Moors

Around £600 worth of tools, including a plaster gun and several drills, were stolen and officers later identified Francis from the phone picture.

Prosecutor David Toal said Francis later broke into furniture manufacturers MA Platts Ltd at Lodge Mill on Victoria Street in Accrington on October 16.

Managing director Christopher Heyes arrived at 10am to find the roller shutters forced open and £2,900 worth of power tools missing.

The court heard how a vending machine had also been forced open and emptied and ‘human excrement was found on the stairwell’.

Mr Toal said Mr Heyes left the mill and tried to re-trace Francis’ escape route along a path next to a canal.

The court heard how he soon found Francis moving items from a large bin into a Vauxhall Zafira before fleeing the scene.

Mr Heyes photorgaphed the car as it left and reported it to the police. Officers later found Francis’ DNA on a plastic drinks bottle seized from inside the mill.

In a separate incident Francis was found guilty of stealing a friend’s bank card and using it to withdraw cash.

The court heard how Francis had been at a friend’s house on Barnes Street in Accrington on August 8 and at one point was left alone inside.

Mr Toal said the defendant went into a woman’s handbag and stole her bank card and a piece of paper with the pin number written on it.

He then went to a nearby One Stop Shop and made two cash withdrawals totalling £220.

The court heard how Francis was arrested four days later and claimed the victim had given him permission as she owed him cash.

'It’s a fall from grace from someone who had turned his life around'

Burnley Crown Court
Burnley Crown Court

Defence barrister Robert Elias said Francis ‘went off the rails’ after the death of his brother last year.

The court heard how Francis worked as a store manager at at McDonalds branch in Southport but then began abusing amphetamines.

Mr Elias told the court: “He obtained employment working his way up in the McDonalds business. It was a responsible and executive position.

“What then happened was his brother died in 2016. This defendant lapsed into amphetamine use and the rest of his offending resulted entirely from that.

“The defendant doesn’t wish to maintain his posture of blaming his partner. He alone accepts responsibility for the violence against her.

“It’s an unusual feature that after a less than auspicious start as a criminal he managed to stay out of trouble for about 10 years before going off the rails.

“It’s a fall from grace from someone who had turned his life around.

"He settled down, was proud to be a father and it’s come crashing down around his ears because of his renewed addiction to amphetamines.

“This is a man who, when he has something to live for, is capable of significant achievement.”