Five years prison for thug who bit off ex-lover's ear
A violent bully who bit off part of the ear of his former partner during a savage attack has been jailed for more than five years.
Darren Tyler ignored a court order banning him from any contact with the victim and slipped into her Tipton home after a heavy drinking spree, a judge heard.
The 36 year old headed for the bedroom where she was woken by a loud bang but had no chance to escape his rage, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
“He punched and kicked her before biting part of her left ear off,” said Miss Fiona Cortese, prosecuting, who continued: “She told police that he ripped her clothes off.”
She called police who arrived to find her battered, bruised and bleeding from what was left of her ear.
Tyler was still at the address and was arrested after the incident on June 30.
He had already served an eight-month prison term imposed in October last year after an earlier breach of the court restraining order which outlawed any contact with the former partner.
He had been abusive to her throughout their five-year relationship which ended last year, the court heard.
On one occasion he punched her while she was holding their four-month-old child before headbutting her after she put the baby down.
She declined to give a statement about the latest incident.
Mr Jasvir Mann, defending, explained: "He started to drink heavily after giving up drugs which led to arguments and assaults of the victim but they were never as serious as this.
"On the day in question he had gone fishing with his brother and had drunk to excess.
"He remembers little or nothing of what happened since the offence was committed under the influence of alcohol.
"I can offer no explanation of why he did it because of the amount of cider and beer he had drunk but he was horrified to discover the degree of harm he had caused."
Tyler from Primrose Hill, Smethwick, who had 18 previous convictions involving 31 separate offences, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and breaching the restraining order.
Judge Peter Barrie told him: "You showed complete disregard for a court order and set about your former partner. This was a vicious attack resulting in a nasty and disfiguring injury."
The defendant was sent to prison for five years four months and was made the subject of a fresh restraining order that bans him from any contact with the victim and prevents him entering the street in which she lives for the next ten years.
