A SPURNED auditor broke into his ex's house and smashed it up when he could not accept their relationship was over.

Burnley Crown Court heard how former cocaine user Jason Lonsdale, 30, was drunk and driven by jealousy when he trashed Wendy Crowe's home, daubed insulting and offensive graffiti on her walls and left abusive messages on her answering machine.

Lonsdale, formerly of Barnoldswick and who had come back to the town for a Christmas party last December, had left Miss Crowe no longer feeling safe in her home and anxious about going out in town.

He escaped an immediate jail sentence after a judge accepted the offences were out of character, his remorse was genuine he was beginning to address his problems.

Judge Barbara Watson added she felt the public would not best be served by sending Lonsdale to prison but if he troubled Miss Crowe again, custody awaited.

The defendant admitted burglary and harassment. He was given a nine-month jail term, suspended for a year and to include the community domestic violence programme.

Lonsdale also received a restraining order, banning him from contacting the victim and from going within 200 metres of her home in Lower East Avenue, Barnoldswick. He must pay £400 compensation.

David Macro, prosec-uting, said the defendant and victim's two-year relationship ended in February 2005.

She had gone out for a meal and asked a male friend to walk her home after seeing Lonsdale in a pub.

She stayed the night at her mother's, and in the morning found her home trashed.