A man who stole money from his father and assaulted his former girlfriend has been warned he could go to jail.

John Gilbert, 21, appeared before Harborough magistrates to plead guilty to stealing thousands of pounds from his father.

Gilbert, of Back Lane, East Langton, Market Harborough, also admitted not turning up to face an earlier hearing at Leicester Magistrates Court where he had been found guilty in his absence of hitting his former partner in the face and harassing her with "very unpleasant" texts.

Harborough magistrate David Chambers warned Gilbert: "We have formed the provisional sentence should be between 10 and 15 weeks' custody."

Prosecutor Liz Collins said Gilbert had been due to attend Leicester Magistrates Court on June 23 for a trial on charges of assaulting his former partner, in Leicester, on November 19 last year and harassing her with a series of threatening texts between November 20 and December 13.

Mrs Collins said he did not turn up and was convicted in his absence.

She said the incident was the latest in an on-off relationship, where Gilbert often was "controlling" and vented his anger by kicking furniture.

She said he also sent a series of "very unpleasant" texts which were shown to the magistrates.

Mrs Collins said the defendant's father noticed an unauthorised withdrawal of £5,500 from his bank account.

He investigated and found that a cheque had been cashed in Leicester made out to J Gilbert. Further investigation showed John Gilbert had cashed two other cheques totalling £600.

Gilbert said of the assault: "She gave as good as she got."

He made no comment on stealing the money from his father. He was remanded on bail until July 23.