A MAN who assaulted a teenage girl when he pushed her claimed she had "invaded his space", trying to kiss him, a court heard.

Anthony Lawrence Armstrong was given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay £750 compensation.

Lucy Blakeman, 18, fell after being pushed and sustained a cut to the temple, bruising and a swollen right eye.

Armstrong, a 23-year-old labourer, of Budge Brow, Accrington, pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm assault.

He was given 35 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, with two years supervision, and a four week nightly curfew.

Judge Norman Wright, sitting at Preston Crown Court, ordered the defendant to pay £300 costs, plus the compensation.

The offence followed an incident in Union Road, Oswaldtwistle.

Judge Wright said Armstrong's offences of violence had been escalating.

But he said he took into account that his life had been turned around by his girlfriend.