A CARLISLE man who tore part of his pal’s ear off with his teeth has been jailed for two years.
Louie George Holmes, 24, and his friend Callum Brown were at an address in the city’s Harraby area overnight on December 7 during a “stint of heavy drinking”.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how, when Mr Brown’s girlfriend later went to retrieve a mobile phone he’d left at the property, she alleged Holmes “felt her bottom” and asked her out on a date.
After she told Mr Brown, he became upset and went back to the house, where Holmes threw a punch towards him. Holmes then wrapped his arms around Mr Brown and sank his teeth into his ear, ripping away a chunk, despite his victim begging: “Louie, please don’t.”
As Mr Brown’s girlfriend arrived at the property, she found him bleeding heavily and said she watched as Holmes threw the detached piece of ear towards her. Surgeons were unable to re-attach it although scaffolder Mr Brown had elected to undergo reconstructive plastic surgery. But he was left self-conscious, had been ridiculed and said of Holmes: “He was meant to be my friend. What Louie has done has changed my life forever.”
Holmes, a roofer, of Lingmoor Way, Carlisle, was found to be “intoxicated and aggressive” when police arrived at the address. He admitted unlawful wounding and was, said his lawyer Paul Tweddle, “genuinely sorry and wishes to express his apologies to the complainant”.
