A FATHER today praised his six-year-old girl for saving his life by injecting him with insulin after he suffered a severe diabetic attack.

Simon Holliday slumped on the floor in his Blackburn home in a semi-coma. But his daughter injected his leg after ringing her grandfather.

Her father said: "I've had insulin episodes in the past which I've spoken to her about. She knows that when I have heart-pulse, she needs to inject me with insulin. She's helped me with this three times before."

Blackburn magistrates heard the aftermath of the incident, on May 25, resulted in Holliday's arrest following a violent confrontation with the daughter's mother during which he was allegedly drunk.

But Kevin Preston, defending, said Holliday was eventually beaten by two men who went to assist his former partner and suffered a broken nose as a result ."

Holliday, 36, of Waterloo Close, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assaulting Janie Bennison and causing £100-worth of damage to her car. He was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £50 compensation.

David Macro, prosecuting, said the couple had been separated for five years but had a six-year-old daughter.

He said that on May 25 Miss Bennison rang Holliday and asked if he could look after their daughter while she went to play netball.

He said that when Miss Bennison returned her daughter answered the door and she was crying. "The defendant was standing in the living room and he was drunk," said Mr Macro.

"She immediately took the girl out but Holiday ran after them and tried to stop the car.

"Luckily there were two men walking past and she screamed at them to call the police. There is no suggestion he is anything but an excellent father," said Mr Preston. He said that while he was with the child he suffered a diabetic episode .