A row over sharing booze ended with a woman being brutally assaulted.

Blackburn Magistrates' Court heard how James Todd threw various items at the woman before knocking her to the floor with a punch to the back of the head.

She ran downstairs where he pushed her over and then kicked her repeatedly in the face.

Todd, 32, of Belmont Terrace, Barrowford, pleaded guilty to criminal damage, assault and fraudulent use of his grandma’s PayPal account.

He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Zulekha Bhuta, prosecuting, said the couple had been together for six months and on the day of the incident had been drinking together at her home.

He became abusive because he didn’t feel he had got his fair share of the drink and left at 5am.

He returned at 7am with more booze and when she asked for some of his drink he refused.

“There was an argument and he followed her to her bedroom and started to throw things at her,” said Miss Kausar.

“Something hit her on the hip causing a small cut and something else hit her on the elbow.”

Miss Kausar said the aggrieved ran downstairs shouting for help but Todd followed and pushed her over.

“While she was on the floor he kicked her at least six times to the face,” said Miss Kausar.

“She ran from the house and after she had left he trashed her property.”

The fraud offence involved him making purchases of £1,662 on his grandmother’s PayPal account.

Gareth Price, in mitigation, said until recently his client had never troubled the criminal justice system.

“He was working at a job he enjoyed and everything was fine,” said Mr Price.

“There were three deaths in quick succession of people who were of significant importance in his life, particularly his grandfather, which had a profound impact on him.”

Mr Price said Todd turned to drink and eventually lost his job.

He said the fraud offence came about after he was allowed to use his grandmother’s phone and saw her PayPal account, which he used in August 2023.

“He feels very ashamed about that offence,” said Mr Price.

“He thought he was making progress with regard to alcohol but it seems he wasn’t making as much progress as he thought.”