A MAN who lashed out at police officers who went to arrest him for breaching a restraining order has been jailed.

Blackburn magistrates heard Matthew Lee Dwyer assaulted three officers during the course of a struggle which saw him pepper sprayed twice before handcuffs could be applied.

Dwyer, 37, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty, to three charges of assaulting an emergency worker and breach of a restraining order. He was jailed for 16 weeks and ordered to pay each of the officers £50 compensation.

Paul Sumner, prosecuting, said the restraining order was made in November and prohibited Dwyer from contacting his former partner or entering the street where she lives.

On Saturday police attended at her house and found him in the kitchen.

"He was told he was going to be arrested and he became aggressive," said Mr Sumner.

"When the officers went to arrest him he lashed out with his fists and his feet and had to be pepper sprayed twice before he could be detained," said Mr Sumner.

Laura Heywood, defending, said the defendant's ex-partner lived at the address with another female who he considered a family friend.

She said Dwyer's father had cancer and did not have long to live and he had gone to speak to the friend.

"He didn't want to speak to his ex-partner, she wasn't even there," said Miss Haywood.

"He accepts he became frustrated when the police said they were going to arrest him."