A 41-YEAR-OLD Darwen man "went berserk" and throttled, punched and head butted his partner after reading text messages on her mobile phone, a court heard.

Blackburn magistrates heard that David John Evans refused to let Janice Scott go to work and in the struggle that followed she suffered a broken finger.

And the court heard there were two further assaults the following weekend during which Mrs Scott was throttled, punched and head butted.

Evans, of Argyle Street, pleaded guilty to three charges of assaulting Mrs Scott causing her actual bodily harm, damaging doors and walls at her home in Grafton Court and two charges of theft of cash from her. He was remanded on bail for pre-sentence reports, with all options open to the sentencing bench.

Phillipa White, prosecuting, said Evans had moved in with Mrs Scott at the end of summer.

She said everything had been fine until November 16 when he became aggressive towards Mrs Scott after reading a text message on her phone.

"The next morning he refused to let her go to work and assaulted her," said Mrs White.

"On that occasion she suffered a broken finger."

Mrs White said things calmed down and there were no more problems until the following weekend when there was another argument about a phone message.

"In Mrs Scott's words he went berserk," said Mrs White.

"He started punching her and throttled her to the point where she couldn't breathe. He also damaged varimous things in the house."

Mrs Scott managed to escape and spent the night with a friend. She returned the next day to collect some belongings and Evans was still there.

"He dragged her by her feet from the taxi she was trying to leave in," said Mrs White.

"He then head butted her before she was able to leave."

Michael Blacklidge, defending, said there was some justification for a reaction by his client.

"However, he himself is alarmed at the extent of the reaction which resulted in the injuries to Mrs Scott," said Mr Blacklidge.

"He is deeply sorry for what happened."