A prolific woman beater has been jailed for biting, pinning down and punching his ex-girlfriend who had to pull on his testicles to get him off.

Nathan Hirst, also known as Nathan Beards, was in breach of a suspended sentence for affray when he bit his then-girlfriend on the face and pinned her chest down with his knee, all because her daughter had come home from a sleepover.

Lisa Worsley, prosecuting at Burnley Crown Court said Hirst’s ex-partner spoke of how the pair had been in a relationship since 2019.

Things started off well but then Hirst, 33, started verbally abusing her before physically abusing her.

On August 30, she and Hirst were watching the Burnley FC match (a 2-0 home win against Millwall) when the victim’s daughter left for a sleepover.

The pair each had a few drinks and Hirst also had some cocaine.

They went up to the bed and watched a film before falling asleep at about 5am.

At about 6.40am, the victim’s daughter came home, prompting anger in Hirst who called her a ‘tramp’, asking his partner ‘what kind of parent she was’.

She told him to leave her alone and Hirst was pacing back and forth at the foot of the bed.

He then climbed on top of her and started biting her on the cheek and the thigh, holding her down on the bed.

She pushed out against him and pulled on his testicles, with Hirst shouting ‘why have you done that?’

She went into her daughter’s room, got a sheet and got back into her bed but Hirst was still angry.

He straddled her again and pushed down on her chest with his knee with all his weight, with her thinking he was about to break her ribs.

She said he eventually got off her and she was struggling to get her breath back, while Hirst was calling her ‘weak’.

He grabbed her purse which has £80 in it and her phone to look through her messages.

She tried to take the purse from him. He pinned her down again and came towards her face, with her thinking he was going to bite her again, so she punched him to get him away.

He asked her ‘why do you have to make me angry?’ and she replied ‘what?’.

He punched her twice in the face, leading to her having a nosebleed and passing out.

She woke up about two minutes later to a much calmer Hirst who was asking her if she still wanted to be with him.

She kept telling him to leave her alone. He asked if she would call the police and she replied she would not if he left her alone, with Hirst then leaving the house.

Her daughter called the police, but he returned to the house to take her dog.

In mitigation, Neil Cronin said that Hirst was ‘remorseful’ of what he had done and ‘trying to change his ways’.

Hirst has moved into a recovery wing to help him with his cocaine addiction and is taking part in a course to help with his violence.

Mr Cronin said: “He accepts that he went for her, but she grabbed him by the testicles, causing excruciating pain, and she did punch him, but this does not justify in any way shape or form what he did.

“He wholly regrets the incident, he is sorry for his actions, and he accepts he has in the past has a problem with drink, drugs and violence.”

He has a long criminal history with a 'horrendous record' for domestic violence.

Hirst, of Alexander Grove, Burnley, pleaded guilty to ABH, theft, criminal damage and breaching a suspended sentence order.

Recorder Ciaran Rankin jailed him for two years and six months.

The judge also provided a restraining order against Hirst, banning him from going near the victim.