A 20-YEAR-OLD man has been locked up for 16 months for assaulting his ex-partner and burgling her flat.

Curtis Howell, of no fixed address, was sentenced today after he was brought to Bradford Crown Court from Doncaster Prison.

He pleaded guilty to common assault on the 17-year-old woman in the street, on April 18, stealing her keys and purse, and burgling her home at Underwood House, North Wing, Wapping, Bradford.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said the burglary was "a very nasty and mean and vindictive offence."

The teenager had caught Howell in the process of stripping out her flat, having removed her settee and cooker.

Howell had 18 convictions for 32 offences, including battery on two ex-girlfriends and burglary with intent to steal.

He was sent to a young offender institution and Judge Durham Hall made a restraining order to protect his victim from further contact in the future.