A SECURITY officer attacked his partner of five months in front of her children, a court was told.

Burnley Magistrates heard mother-of-two Christina Traynor was left with a 5in gash on her leg after the assault at the home she shared with David Albert Taylor.

The victim's eight-year-old son tried to intervene, telling Taylor, 37, to stop hitting his mother and was very upset by what happened.

Taylor, of the Waggoners pub, Colne Road, Burnley, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm on April 13. He was fined £150, with £75 costs by the bench who warned him his behaviour had been "totally unacceptable."

Elizabeth Reed, prosecuting, said the defendant was possessive, had been verbally abusive and did not like his partner going out without him.

Both had been drinking and the defendant was already at home when the victim arrived. He started shouting at her while a child minder was still present.

Taylor then became abusive, grabbed her hair and started pulling her around. He punched her head and hit her in the face.

Mrs Reed said the complainant's eight year old son tried to stop the attack which left his mother with a leg injury. The defendant carried on shouting and striking his partner as they went downstairs..

The victim ran to her cousin's nearby home. Police and ambulance were called. When the defendant was questioned by police, he said the complainant had been shouting at him and he had hit her to calm her down. Taylor had no previous convictions.

David Lawson, defending, said Taylor and his partner were due to be reconciled.

Both had been drinking. The offence was a one-off and unlikely to be repeated.