A man has been jailed for two years and four months after he threatened to drown his former partner in the bath after pushing his way into her home in breach of a restraining order.

Steven Moorhouse, 37, of no fixed address, was today sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on a video link to HMP Leeds after he was remanded in custody for again breaching the order while on prison licence.

He pleaded guilty to three breaches of the order and to assaulting the woman by beating her.

Prosecutor Martin Robertshaw said the restraining order was made in July, 2019, to protect the woman from Moorhouse after he committed an offence of battery on her.

His record of 35 convictions for 57 offences included harassment, battery, drugs offences, threatening behaviour and breaching the restraining order and a non-molestation order.

Mr Robertshaw said the indefinite restraining order was still in place.

On June 12, Moorhouse went to the woman’s home in Calderdale in the early hours, banged on the door and shouted. He was back at 8am, banging on the doors and windows.

On June 30, he pushed his way into the address in the afternoon. The woman was taking a bath when he grabbed her hair and threatened to drown her.

She shouted for the police and he was found hiding in a bedroom.

The woman had suffered a cut to her cheek in the assault.

In her victim impact statement, she described being “petrified” of Moorhouse and constantly staring out of the window in case he returned.

She had previously moved home to avoid him and now feared she might have to relocate again, away from her family.

Emma Downing said in mitigation that Moorhouse knew he was going straight to prison.

He had sought out his former partner for companionship after suffering a series of tragic family bereavements, the last one soon before he committed the offences.

“These offences are serious and deeply unpleasant but not planned or premeditated,” Miss Downing said.

Moorhouse said this was a turning point in his life. He was seeking bereavement counselling while in custody and planned to move to a new area when he was released.

Recorder Thomas Moran said he had a terrible history of breaching the order and this time threatened to drown his victim while she was in the bath.

She was so petrified of him that she was thinking of moving home again.