Busselton waitress Teaha Louise Bowerman avoids jail after drunken attack on another woman

A waitress has escaped with a fine for a drunken attack on another woman in a pub during which she dragged her victim by the hair until it ripped out. Teaha Louise Bowerman pleaded guilty in Busselton Magistrate’s Court to assault occasioning bodily harm but avoided jail. The 19-year-old was at the Shipp Inn last month when another patron called her a “homewrecker” and “slut” during a conversation about Bowerman’s partner. The teenager then hit the woman over the head with a glass bottle multiple times, before pulling her off her seat by her hair and dragging her along the ground until a chunk of hair was pulled out. It was revealed in court the women had never met before, but had communicated on social media about Bowerman’s partner, who was the victim’s former boyfriend. According to Bowerman the woman provoked her by pointing at her and laughing from the other side of the pub. Magistrate Andrew Maughan said her actions were “disproportionate” and handed down significant fines rather than imprisonment given her lack of a criminal record. “I appreciate that you might have been offended by being called a homewrecker but that would never provide any physical damage to you,” he said. “Your response was entirely disproportionate by hitting the victim around the head with a bottle ... not content with that action you pulled her by the hair to the ground. “When you strike someone around the head there’s a real possibility the person can fall backwards, hit their head on the ground and die. “We see that far too frequently in this jurisdiction. “I’ve given (imprisonment) some serious consideration. The issue of a weapon to the vulnerable part of the body is a serious matter. Fortunately, the injuries didn’t result in something far more serious.” Rather than imprisonment, Bowerman was fined $3500 and granted a spent conviction after Mr Maughan found she was unlikely to reoffend.