South Shields man bit his girlfriend’s ear off in argument

A South Shields man has been jailed after he bit a large chunk off his girlfriend’s ear off in a heated row, permanently disfiguring her.

While drunk, Tom McKenzie performed the animal attack while she was on top of him on a sofa bed in the living room during a fight.

Newcastle Crown Court heard police had been called out by a neighbour after reports of an argument between them at home in South Shields around 1am on February 8 this year. Things appeared to have calmed down and officers left.

Then, around 2.45am, McKenzie’s uncle, who lives nearby, was woken by the woman at his door with injuries to her ear and face. Omar Ahmad told the court: “She said the defendant had bitten her ear off and assaulted her.”

She was taken to hospital and, as well as losing the section of ear, she had bruising to all of her limbs, swelling to her face and eye, pain to the back of her neck and tenderness to her face.

The court heard McKenzie, who was originally charged with GBH with intent pleaded guilty to GBH on the basis of self-defence gone too far as she was straddling him and shouting at him at the time. She withdrew her support for the prosecution and prosecutors did not challenge his basis of plea. He was jailed for 29 months.

The 27-year-old, of Baring Street, South Shields, has eight previous convictions, including for spitting at medical staff in 2021 and assaulting his stepfather by punching him and attempting to bite his ear.

Jennifer Coxon, defending, said McKenzie is apologetic and that “alcohol is the main factor in his offending behaviour”. She added: “They had both drunk alcohol that night and it led to them arguing, resulting in her shouting and straddling him while he lashed out in excessive self-defence.”

Miss Coxon said he had a traumatic upbringing and broke his back rock climbing when 16 and went on to start using drink and drugs to cope with his problems. He also has a history of anxiety and depression.