BA NIGHT out with her ex-partner turned into a violent nightmare for Joanne Duxbury.

Blackburn magistrates heard that she was punched, kicked and bitten on the stomach when Alan Peter Costello launched a vicious attack after they returned to her home at the end of the evening.

But the court was told that the victim had since made a statement saying that while everything she had told the police about the incident was true she didn't want Costello to go to prison.

Costello, 30, of Mosley Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm. After reading pre-sentence reports the magistrates adjourned the case for further assessment of Costello by the probation service. He was remanded on bail until November 7.