A ROMANIAN national who held a knife to the throat of a woman he was living with faces deportation after serving a jail sentence.

Judge Sara Dodd, sitting at Burnley Crown Court, told Marian Popan, 46, that he may have acted out of jealousy when he brandished the weapon.

But his victim was left feeling "very scared" and fled the property as soon as she could and called the police, the court heard.

The judge said "whether it was a text from a former partner or the presence of a former partner" which had provoked the violence remained unclear.

"It may be there was a fledgling relationship here, it may be that you were good friends but you were living in her home," said the judge.

Popan approached his victim from behind in the kitchen of her house, where he also lived, and held the knife to her throat, the court heard, calling her names and threatening to kill her.

Popan, of Higher Reedley Road, Brierfield, had denied threatening his victim with an offensive weapon in a private place but was convicted after a trial.

Judge Dodd also imposed a restraining order, preventing any contact with his victim, for five years.

Keira Shaw, prosecuting, said when the victim had left the scene of the violence and made a 999 call, she was clearly distressed on the phone.

The court heard Popan had no criminal conviction in this country but had been held in Romania for handling stolen goods and a driving licence offence.

Niamh Ingham, defending, said her client had been convicted at trial so she was limited in what mitigation she could advance.

She told the court that once Popan had served his sentence the Home Office would like at beginning proceedings to remove him from the country.

Popan intended to return to Romania to work as a labourer in the building trade, she added.