Drunken man convicted of headbutting woman

Monday 25 February 2019

A 34-year-old man has been convicted of drunkenly chasing a woman who had a restraining order against him down a road, and headbutting her in the mouth.

Mark Phillip Gomes Pires denied the charge of grave and criminal assault, but after a short trial in the Magistrate’s Court he has been found ‘guilty’ of the offence.

The Court heard that the incident took place on 16 December last year on Stopford Road in town, just 12 days after the restraining order was put in place to prevent Pires from contacting the victim.

Crown Advocate Chris Baglin told Magistrate Bridget Shaw, presiding, that the woman had been going to a friend's house when she received a call from Pires.

Pictured: The assault took place on Stopford Road in December of last year (Google Maps).

As the woman headed to a nearby corner shop to buy drinks for her and her friend, Pires ran up behind her, took her by the arms and headbutted her - an attack that caused her to suffer a cut lip and bruising to her forearm and hand.

The woman managed to get away from Pires, before going to her friends house, where she called the Police, explaining that she had been assaulted and that he was now “banging" on the door.

The Crown Advocate told the Court that, during his Police interview, Pires denied "at all times" that he had headbutted the woman, stating instead that there was a "scuffle" involving him, the woman and her friend.

Giving evidence during the trial, the victim described Pires as sounding "drunk" on the phone, adding: "I was scared of him when he’s been drinking or taking things.”

Recalling the assault on Stopford Road, she said: “I heard footsteps running up behind me and I turned round... He caught up with me and grabbed the hood of my coat and stopped me from running... As he grabbed my coat, he pinched my skin."

Pictured: The woman who was the victim of the grave and criminal assault gave evidence during the trial.

She added: “He was very, very drunk so he went to headbutt me and caught me on my lip.”

Representing Pires, Advocate Francesca Pinel showed the woman various Facebook messages sent from accounts in her name to Pires to prove that she had been inciting contact from him, despite the restraining order.

She implied that the woman had “arranged to meet” with Pires on Stopford Road that evening and that the reason he chased her is because the woman “grabbed his phone off him” as Pires was threatening to show her attempts to contact him, to Police.

“I didn’t meet with him, he chased me down the road… I haven’t got his phone," the victim responded.

Pictured: The trial took place last week in the Magistrate's Court.

Advocate Pinel suggested that the assault allegation was a fabrication “to distract” from the fact the woman was trying to contact Pires, accusing her of “try[ing] to cover your back".

The woman became visibly upset at the suggestion, replying: “You’re calling me a liar when I’ve sworn down that I’m not lying. I’ll put [my children's] lives on the fact that I’m not lying.”

Magistrate Shaw described the victim as “a credible witness”, subsequently concluding that Pires was guilty.

He will be held in custody to be sentenced for this and other offences on 14 March.