Ipswich: Man jailed for sexually assaulting woman in Tate’s nightclub

A MAN who sexually assaulted a woman in a town centre nightclub has been locked up for 14 months.

Herman Mendonca, 27, had approached the woman while she was sitting on her own in Tate’s nightclub and kissed her and placed her hand on his groin, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Mendonca, of Bramford Lane, Ipswich, denied two offences of sexually assaulting the woman and was cleared of touching her intimately after putting his hand inside her tights, but was found guilty of placing her hand on his groin.

During his trial last month Mendonca told a jury he initially approached the woman in a seating area in the nightclub because he thought she was Portuguese.

He said it soon became apparent she wasn’t and he claimed they both looked at each other before kissing on the lips.

He said that during the kiss he had caressed the woman’s cheek and after the kiss, which lasted a few seconds, he had walked off.

The court has heard the woman was sitting on her own after becoming separated from her friend when she was approached by Mendonca.

It was alleged that after initially trying to talk to the woman Mendonca had kissed her on the lips before putting his hands inside her tights and touching her intimately.

Frances Cole-Harrington, prosecuting, told the court the woman had tried to pull away from Mendonca.

When cross-examined by Miss Cole-Harrington, Mendonca denied sexually assaulting the woman and then chasing after her when she got away from him.

Raj Joshi, for Mendonca, said he had no previous convictions and had a drink problem,