A FINTONA man assaulted a woman after she "turned down his romantic advances", a court has heard. 

Roy Brownlee (55), of Tonnagh Road, Fintona, was sentenced at Enniskillen Magistrate's Court yesterday (Wednesday). 

The court heard how on December 10, 2023, the female resident of a block of flats encountered Brownlee "knocking on her door".

When she opened, he entered the flat, and was "ranting about a parcel". He then "pushed" the woman and "punched her". 

The individual told police that she had previous issues with Brownlee, after "turning down his romantic advances" around five weeks before.

She had also previously experienced Brownlee "banging on her door six or seven times". She "felt that she was being watched" and "harassed" by him.

In a separate incident on December 14, the PSNI received 20 calls to 999 from Brownlee.

Police attended his address and placed him under arrest. He did not comment during an interview. 

Barrister, Ciaran Roddy, said that he had "no issue" with a retraining order being imposed, but said that the court can "take solace" from the fact that Brownlee hasn't contacted the injured party since the incident occurred. 

Mr. Roddy added that Brownlee now lives outside of the general area where the injured party resides, and it is "unlikely that there will be any further incidents".

Sentencing Brownlee, District Judge Alana McSorley said: "Your attitude has done you no favours, but you have a limited record and have entered a guilty plea."

For common assault, Judge McSorley imposed a two-month prison sentence, suspended for a year. 

For harassment, a three-month suspended sentence was imposed.

For the offence of persistently making use of a public electronic communications network, a one-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, was imposed. 

A restraining order in favour of the injured party was also imposed.