Two women stole a vulnerable man’s wallet after breaking into his flat and attempted to buy alcohol using his bank card.

Danielle Boyarin, 28; Anastasia Dearden, 28; and Paul Birtwell, 32, appeared at Burnley Crown Court charged with a range of offences.

The court heard how on August 30, Christopher Garside, a vulnerable man, woke after hearing a noise in his flat in Gladstone Heights, Accrington.

Prosecuting, Emma Kehoe said Mr Garside went into the living room and saw two women who he named as Danielle and ‘Stacey’.

On seeing him, the pair left the flat and Mr Garside quickly realised they had taken his wallet with them.

He soon received a message on his phone saying his credit card had been used. He then cancelled the card.

Further card activations were attempted at a booze shop close to Mr Garside’s home but they did not go through as the card had already been cancelled.

Boyarin went back to Gladstone Heights the following day to return the wallet with all the cards still there, though £100 in cash was missing.

Both women were arrested shortly after and provided no comment interviews.

In a victim personal statement, Mr Garside said the burglary had a negative impact on his health issues, and he found himself worrying whether it could happen again or if he would bump into the women.

Ms Kehoe said Dearden’s offending began as a juvenile and she has various convictions for not complying with court orders.

Boyarin’s additional offending was then laid out by Ms Kehoe, who said on September 5 police were called to an incident of disorder.

She was placed under arrest and purposely kicked towards PC Hammond’s face. The officer put her hand up to protect herself, and Boyarin’s foot made contact with her hand.

PC Cook then came to assist and Boyarin spat towards them, connecting with their face and eye.

Just under two weeks prior to this, on August 25, Boyarin was out in Accrington town centre in the early hours of the morning.

The victim in this incident, Samantha Burrows, intervened in a fight between two males who were with Boyarin, leading to the defendant grabbing Ms Burrows by her coat and throwing her to the floor.

Ms Burrows suffered a severed artery in her right eye, causing partial blindness for a period of time. She also suffered a loss of sensation and numbness to her face.

Shortly after the incident Ms Burrows died, though Ms Kehoe said there was “no nexus between her death and this offending".

Ms Burrows had previously given an account of the injuries she suffered.

The final offence laid out by Ms Kehoe relating to Boyarin was one of being the passenger in a stolen vehicle on October 28.

Boyarin was the front seat passenger in a stolen vehicle being driven by Birtwell which was eventually stopped by officers.

As she was detained, she spat in the face of another officer.

Keith Harrison, for Boyarin, said regarding the assault in Accrington: “She is at pains to make out she did not intend these dreadful consequences for her victim.”

He added his client is remorseful and she “realises she cannot go on accumulating a raft of offences.”

Wayne Jackson, for Dearden, said his client had a history of lower grade offending and feels “disgusted” about her behaviour.

Birtwell, of Burnley Road, Accrington, was convicted of aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen and driving without a licence and insurance.

However, he pleaded not guilty to a separate offence of burglary in Accrington on February 18, accepting he did break in but denying any attempt to steal.

He will face a trial on this count on August 13 and will have all his charges sentenced together.

Dearden, of Altham Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to burglary and two counts of fraud. Her sentence was deferred for three months until June 17.

Judge Sara Dodd said: “The author of the pre-sentence report is rightly very sceptical of your motivation to change, but on the face of it you have been drug free for some months now.

"You are working with Inspire and in those circumstances I am minded to defer the sentence.

“If you succeed I will not sentence you to an immediate term of imprisonment. If you do not, or you are convicted of any other offence, I will have no alternative but to send you to prison.”

Addressing Boyarin, Judge Dodd said: “The first offence in time is the actual bodily harm on Samantha Burrows.

"You grabbed her coat and ended up throwing her to the floor. Her injury, though, was significant.”

Regarding the burglary, Judge Dodd said both defendants must have known the nature of the accommodation and this was the targeting of a vulnerable victim.

Boyarin, of Church Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to burglary, two counts of fraud, assaulting an emergency worker, actual bodily harm, and being carried in a stolen vehicle.

She was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.