Former pop star Dane Bowers faces jail after being found guilty of beating up his ex-girlfriend in row over glitter

  • Bowers, 35, attacked Sophia Cahill at his parents' home in south London
  • He beat her up when she got annoyed that he had glitter on his face
  • Today he told a court that he accidentally hit her on the nose but insisted he was acting in self-defence
  • But the judge found him guilty of assault and now Bowers could face jail  

Guilty: Dane Bowers was today convicted of attacking his ex-girlfriend during a row about glitter at his parents' home in south London

Pop star Dane Bowers could face jail after he was today convicted of attacking his ex-girlfriend after she became angry because he had glitter on his face.

The former Another Level singer, 35, insisted that he hit Sophia Cahill on the nose by mistake while trying to defend himself by flailing his arms - and claimed that any injuries she sustained were because she had recently had a nose job.

However, a judge at Croydon magistrates' court today found him guilty of assault by beating, and said he could go to prison when he is sentenced next month. 

District Judge Andrew Sweet said: 'I am satisfied that he assaulted her in the manner she described.'

The court heard that the scuffle took place in January this year at Bowers' parents' home, where the pair were both living even though they had split up two months earlier.

Miss Cahill tried to wake up Bowers at 6.30am, and became annoyed that he had glitter on his face after a night out.

The former Miss Wales told an earlier hearing that Bowers then grabbed her by the shoulders, threw her out of a bedroom, hit her in the face, giving her a bloody nose, pulled her hair and squeezed her throat.

But Bowers said that he had been at a circus-themed nightclub because he wanted to help a friend get a job by introducing him to the manager

He claimed that he returned to his parents' south London home at around 1.30am and sat up talking to his father Andrew about a forthcoming holiday.

Bowers' mother had been admitted to hospital the day before after suffering a heart attack, the court heard.

Giving evidence today, Bowers said that Miss Cahill went into the room where he was sleeping and told him to wake up.

Later, when he was changing a baby's nappy, his ex-girlfriend returned and poked him in the head, so he grabbed her by the arms and removed her from the room, the court heard.

Couple: The pair were still living together at the time of the alleged attack even though they had split up

Couple: The pair were still living together at the time of the alleged attack even though they had split up

Bowers added: 'She came back in, a lot more forceful. She slapped me, and she was pounding me on the chest.

'I grabbed her by the arms, to move her out, and she fell to the floor. We both stumbled - it was like a scuffle - and she did go to the floor. I didn't throw her to the floor.'

He tried to get round her, but she was trying to stop him going downstairs. 'That's when I must have hit her on the nose - that was me trying to get away from her,' he added.

He denied having punched her, saying: 'I still don't know, she said it was a slap. She could have said it was an elbow, or an arm, I couldn't have argued with her.'

When Mr Blandford described the injuries that Miss Cahill claims to have suffered - including being covered in blood, bruising on her arms and red marks around her neck - Bowers said he could not understand how it could have happened

He said: 'She had just had a nose job - her nose had been sore from her nose job.

'The only [injuries] I can explain are the ones on her arms. She fell on the wash basket, so she might have had some injuries from that but it wasn't that drastic.'

Asked if there was a lot of blood, Bowers said: 'No, I didn't see it, there was a tiny bit of blood on the floor.'

His father turned up and calmed down the situation after a 'minute or two' of fighting, the singer said.

Andrew Bowers told the court today: 'I just told them both, 'It's disgusting in front of the kids,' and then they stopped. I was very angry with the two of them. I didn't see any violence, not near me.'

Model: Miss Cahill, who was crowned Miss Wales in 2002, says she was left with a bloody nose

Model: Miss Cahill, who was crowned Miss Wales in 2002, says she was left with a bloody nose

Miss Cahill, who did not attend court today, had previously said: 'I had caught him in bed with somebody before and that obviously gave us trust issues, and because we were still living under the same roof we agreed we were not going to disrespect each other.

'I felt he had been out all night and and I just jumped to conclusions.

'He hit me. He backhanded me. I was just shocked.

'He loses his temper anyway and shouts a lot, so I was not shocked that he completely lost control, but he loses control anyway.

'He grabbed me and threw me out of the bedroom and shut the door.' 

The court also heard a series of angry text messages exchanged between the couple after Miss Cahill had left the house and Bowers had taken the baby to nursery.

In them Miss Cahill calls Bowers a 'terrible person' and accuses him of hitting her.

Bowers replied with a message that said: 'F*** off you psycho. You got a slap because I told you. You got a slap because you hit me.'

When she wrote: 'You smacked me in the face when you were changing the baby,' he replied: 'You know what Sophie, even if that was the case, whatever, you came in this morning looking for a fight.'

Bowers claimed none of the messages represented an admission of guilt. 

The pair, who Bowers admitted had both been unfaithful in their three-year relationship, broke up in November 2014 but stayed living together in Bowers' parents' four-bedroom house in Croydon.

He had planned to go to Tenerife for a few months in order to give Miss Cahill space and just a day before his mother had suffered a heart attack and been admitted to hospital.

On the night before the assault on January 29, Bowers - who was sleeping separately in a downstairs TV room - said that he had been out to the circus-themed nightclub Cirque to introduce a friend to the manager and had gone to bed at about 2am after a half an hour chat with his dad.

Judge Sweet said: 'It is clear that an argument took place at around that time. Miss Cahill, who was up getting ready for work said that she saw glitter on his face and there is no dispute that he had been out the night before.

'Mr Bowers was changing a baby's nappy when Miss Cahill came into the room.. She described Mr Bowers as back-handing her.

'She said that he was shouting and being aggressive and she wanted to get into the room to ensure the safety of the baby.

'She tried to get into the room but was thrown out. She admitted that she had slapped Mr Bowers in the face.

Bearing in mind the nature of this assault...I'm not ruling out the possibility of a prison sentence
District Judge Andrew Sweet

'There was clearly a tussle and she ended up on the floor by the wash basket. She described herself as being dragged by her hair and thrown onto the bed.

'He grabbed her by the throat and she said that he was swearing at her and she had her head pulled back.'

He added: 'At some point Mr Bowers left the room and she through the had gone downstairs and she came out of the room and was struck on the side of the her face.

'Miss Cahill left the house and there then followed an exchange of text messages between Miss Cahill and Mr Bowers.

'We know that Mr Bowers was interviewed by the police and has made a prepared statement.

'Mr Bowers has also given evidence and has accepted there had been an argument between the two of them and that some poking and some slapping had taken place between both of them.

'Mr Andrew Bowers came out and caught the end of the incident. The words of his struck that struck me most were: "they were both as bad as each other".

'He certainly didn't see Mr Bowers being violent towards Miss Cahill.' 

The judge said he was satisfied that even if Ms Cahill had poked or pushed Bowers in the back of the head, the response she described from him went beyond what could be considered reasonable.

He said: 'So I am not satisfied that the issue of self defence is raised. I am satisfied that Ms Cahill told the truth, and that Mr Bowers was very angry.

'I am satisfied that he assaulted her in the manner she described. It was a consistent and reasonably length attack.

'It was a sustained assault, causing her injuries, that took place in the presence of her two children. The charge is proved.'

The judge ordered a report to be prepared on Bowers and warned him: 'Bearing in mind the nature of this assault, it's an all options report, I'm not ruling out the possibility of a prison sentence.'

He renewed Bowers's conditional bail.

Bowers declined to comment outside court.

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now