Man’s nose was left hanging off after ‘friend’ bit him row over bank card
A shocked pub customer was left with part of his nose hanging off after a so-called friend suddenly viciously bit him using his teeth as a ‘dangerous weapon’ during a ‘petty’ argument about a bank card.
Patrick Ivory became angry because he thought that his pal had not returned the bank card to him after buying a round of drinks during a night out.
He plunged his teeth ‘hard’ into the victim’s nose during a bad-tempered scuffle and the man had been left with a scar that was a constant reminder to him of his nasty ordeal, Hull Crown Court heard.
Ivory, 22, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on the man in Bridlington on July 9. Jazmine Lee, prosecuting, said that Ivory was on a night out with friends, including the victim of the incident, in Bridlington, at 10.35pm.
They shared turns to buy rounds of drinks and, when it was Ivory’s turn, he gave his bank card to the man to buy the round.
The other man claimed that he returned it.
Later, Ivory approached him and demanded the return of his bank card.
There was a disagreement and the man tried to explain that he had already returned it.
Ivory became aggressive, shouted at the friend and shoved him.
He swung a punch towards the man and there was a scuffle. Ivory took him by the throat, pinned him to a nearby wall and bit his nose, causing an injury.
The victim went to hospital by ambulance and needed 15 stitches and an overnight stay.
His injury had left a scar.
The man later said: ‘I do not feel I did anything to be assaulted. I certainly did not expect him to bite my nose. He escalated things so quickly and chose to bite me out of the blue, giving me no time to react.
‘Being bitten was not something that I would have expected from Patrick.’
The victim had been unable to work for several weeks to prevent the wound from becoming infected. ‘I now have a scar, which reminds me of what happened every time I look in the mirror,’ he said.
‘It plays on my mind most nights when I go to bed. Part of my nose was left hanging off. It is fortunate that it was not more serious given how hard he bit me. It’s sad to think it has come to this.’
Benjamin Bell, mitigating, said that it was a ‘grave’ injury.
‘Teeth are a weapon,’ he said. The incident lasted about 30 seconds. ‘He has accepted what he has done straight away,’ said Mr Bell.
‘He has shown good victim awareness and he has shown genuine remorse. This will stay with him for the rest of his life. He has sought his own help for the trauma that he has caused himself, not just the complainant.
‘Alcohol is the issue. He has remained a very, very light drinker since. He has withdrawn himself from these bouts of drunkenness and now drinks only infrequently.’ The incident was a ‘very significant blip’ and Ivory had no previous convictions.
Ivory, of Selby Road, Leeds, was given a 16-month suspended prison sentence, 250 hours’ unpaid work, five days’ rehabilitation and was ordered to pay £2,000 compensation.
Judge Sophie McKone told Ivory: ‘This petty argument turned to violence. I can only think the reason that you turned to violence was because you had so much to drink.
‘There was an argument between you and him and there was a scuffle. You put him against a wall and bit his nose.
‘Incredibly, you did not manage to bite the end of his nose off but you did bite it so that some of it was left hanging away and he had to go to hospital to have stitches and he could not work.
‘Your teeth are a weapon. They are a dangerous weapon because there is always the risk of infection as well as the damage that teeth can do. There was scarring to the victim.’
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