A DRUNKEN man who kicked in a woman’s door to carry out a sustained assault on her has been jailed for 18 months.

Steven Horsfall went round twice to his victim’s home at night demanding to be let in, Bradford Crown Court heard on Friday.

Horsfall, 28, of no fixed address, had been held in custody since the offences in October and was sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison.

Prosecutor Timothy Jacobs said Horsfall knew the woman and they met by chance in a pub in Halifax but he was removed from the building and she went home.

She was in her house on her own when she heard banging and Horsfall shouting and kicking at the door.

He broke into the address and subjected her to a two hour assault.

The incident involved him pushing her into a door frame and pulling her by the hair.

Mr Jacobs said that although her injuries were not the most severe, they were unpleasant and left marks on her.

When Horsfall began to fall asleep, she messaged a friend who called the police, the court heard.

He was arrested and bailed.

However, a week later, on October 30, he returned to the address in drink, banging on the door in the early hours.

He pushed his way in, knocking the woman into a wall and banging her head.

He then pulled her hair and slapped her.

Horsfall pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage to the door and common assault.

The court heard he had 28 previous convictions for 47 offences.

Those offences included robbery and affray.

Horsfall’s barrister, Abigail Langford, said he was uninhibited by drink and now regretted his actions.

He had paid £400 to have the door at the property repaired, the court heard.

Horsfall had spent eight months in custody and was worried about catching the coronavirus while in prison, Miss Langford said.

Judge Jonathan Rose said he had carried out “a protracted, sustained and repeated assault” on the woman, going round to her home twice at night while he was drunk.

The first time, she was alone and on the second occasion, she had children at the address with her.

Horsfall was in breach of a conditional discharge for being drunk and disorderly and on bail when he returned to the house.

He was jailed for 15 months for the actual bodily harm offence plus three months for the common assault.

The sentences are set to run consecutively