A MAN lashed out at police officers because he realised he was going to be arrested and returned to prison.

Blackburn magistrates heard Dean Christopher Sanders punched one officer and pushed another in the chest before he was subdued and handcuffed.

Sanders, 32, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting an emergency worker.

He was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £150 compensation to one of the officers who suffered a chipped tooth.

Parveen Akhtar, prosecuting, said police were informed of a man being held hostage at an address in Burnley.

Outside the address they were confronted by Sanders who pushed one officer before punching him in the face.

The second officer intervened and after being punched administered five or six punches to the defendant's torso to gain compliance.

Jonathan Taylor, defending, said Sanders had been released from prison five weeks earlier and was in approved accommodation with a lot of sex offenders.

"He found it difficult to spend time with that kind of offender," said Mr Taylor.

"He was involved in an argument with one of the other residents and left the property. When the police arrived he knew he would be arrested for being in breach of a curfew and would inevitably go back to prison. He lashed out in frustration."