TINDER CREEP JAILED Man, 30, bashed woman who rejected him

A TINDER creep who bashed a woman — telling her “I know you want to f-- k me” — after she rejected his sexual advances has been sentenced to jail.

Mitchell Douglas Walter Bowman, 30, forced his way into his victim’s house before pushing her into a wall and punching her in the face when the woman rejected him.

He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and bur- glary in the Townsville District Court yesterday.

The court heard Bowman and his victim met a few months prior to the assault after matching on online dating app Tinder. The pair met twice in person and had sex.

Then, on the night of July 7, 2014, the woman arrived home to find Bowman at her house.

Judge Leanne Clare said Bowman asked the woman why she had ignored his messages for several days.

“She told you in plain terms that she did not like you. She went inside and she tried to close the door but you were able to push in,” Judge Clare said.

The court heard the woman told Bowman to leave her house, but he refused.

He followed the woman into her bedroom and hugged her. When she tried to push him away, Bowman pushed her into a wall and touched her in a sexual nature.

“She was telling you that she didn’t want you and she could have not been plainer,” Judge Clare said. “But you refused to accept it, you kept saying ‘ I know you want to f-- k me’.

“Her … rejection of you was not enough, so she then told you she was menstruating.”

Bowman then punched the woman in the face. She screamed and he left the home.

Defence barrister Gregory Lynham said Bowman had an otherwise “unblemished past history” with no convictions.

Mr Lynham said the sexual touching had been on the outside of the woman’s clothing.

Bowman moved to Townsville in 2014 and was working as a security guard at the Vale Hotel in Aitkenvale at the time.

Mr Lynham said on the night of the attack, Bowman was driving when he “coincidentally” spotted the woman walking home.

“He pulled up outside of her house and began talking to her, asking her why it was that she had ceased all contact with him, given the nature of their previous relationship,” he said.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Walklate said when Bowman was first interviewed by police he denied the allegations. In a second interview he made partial admissions.

Judge Clare said Bowman refused to accept the woman’s “right to say no”.

“The most concerning aspect of this is the distorted view of your entitlement to contact with this woman against her clear and expressed wishes,” she said. “You invaded her home and you tried to force yourself on to her.”

Bowman was sentenced to a two- year jail term, suspended after six months.