A MAN was jailed after he repeatedly burgled his ex-wife's house.

Burnley Crown Court heard Mark Ellis visited the house of his former partner, Jolene Canavan, three times in a month and caused car damage, broke in and stole a mobile phone and house keys.

Ellis, of Hawkfield Lodge, Colne, went to the house of his ex-partner at around 2.10am on May 12.

The court heard Ellis was high on cocaine and asked his former wife to take him back to his house.

When she refused he shouted obscenities and punched her car on the driveway and smashed the windscreen.

Two weeks later the court heard the 42-year-old visited the house again while high on drugs at around 3.30am.

Ellis smashed his way through the front window of the property and cut his hand. He then left trails of blood everywhere.

Two days later Ellis met his wife on Marsden Hall Road, Nelson, who was with her cousin at the time.

He pulled up to them in a car asking for cash and they told him to go away because he was on drugs.

The court heard that Ms Canavan went to her cousin's house and during that time Ellis broke into his ex-partner's house again.

His teenage daughter, who lives with Ms Canavan, was in the house asleep in bed.

Ellis stole a mobile phone along with a set of house keys.

Ellis has a criminal record containing more than 130 offences. The latest offences were committed while he was serving a community order over a burglary he committed in January.

Prosecutor Robert Elias said: "This all happened in the context of a volatile relationship breaking up and an overwhelming drug addiction. He has a totally bad criminal record."

Defence barrister Isobel Thomas said her client was 'not proud' of what he had done and wished to apologised to his ex-partner and children.

She said: "They have been together for 22 years and married and that marriage broke down in 2010 when the defendant had an affair with another woman and went on to have a child with that woman.

"It has been acrimonious and they have had their ups and downs. He is not proud of some of the thing he said to Jolene."

Judge Philip Parry said: "What's upsetting is not just the fact you went into the house but also caused your daughter to wake up out of bed. It would be frightening for her, particular after seeing you bleed all over the house two days earlier and then come back to steal."

Ellis was sentenced to two years in prison and a five-year restraining order.