A Chippenham man who launched a violent attack on a woman he met on Tinder the day before has been jailed and slapped with a restraining order.
Serial abuser Jake Clark, who has numerous previous convictions for assaults on women, was convicted of inflicting actual bodily harm and false imprisonment.
Police had been called to the defendant’s flat in Portway, off Hungerdown Lane, at around 9am on 7 March – after members of the public saw an injured woman asking for help.
The woman, aged in her 30s, had met Clark on Tinder and after meeting up in person the previous day, Clarke had used the woman’s bank card to withdraw hundreds of pounds from her account.
That night, he became aggressive towards her, headbutting and punching her multiple times causing an injury to her eye socket. He also prevented her from leaving his address and smashed her phone.
At Swindon Crown Court today (5 December), he was jailed for three years and two months.
As well as the prison term, the 29-year-old was given a five year and nine month restraining order – prohibiting contact with the victim.
Clark has a history of assaults on women. Back in 2021, Wiltshire 999s reported on his attack on a girlfriend. In the incident, he bit and strangled her.
The 2021 crimes were committed while he was serving a suspended prison sentence for theft, criminal damage and actual bodily harm on a previous girlfriend in 2018.
DC Daniel Jackson, of Central CID said: “Clark is a violent man – he knew his victim had been searching for companionship but he instead took advantage of this and subjected her to a terrifying ordeal, leaving her with extremely nasty injuries – although these may now have healed, she has been left feeling extremely anxious and nervous as a result of her ordeal.
“Clark did everything he could to prevent his victim from getting any help by barricading her inside his address. It is so fortunate that a passer-by was able to call for police so officers could come to her aid and prevent any further attacks.
“Wiltshire Police take a very robust approach when dealing with cases involving violence towards women and girls. Clark met his victim via an online dating website and preyed upon her vulnerabilities.
“Whilst the majority of people who use these websites are genuine and looking for relationships, we would still like to urge people to always exercise great care and caution when it comes to the potential dangers involved with using dating applications. Always let a trusted family member or friends know of your whereabouts.
“I welcome today’s custodial sentence and restraining order – this sentence reflects the seriousness of Clark’s actions.”
