Suspended sentence for teenager who bit part of man’s ear off in nightclub brawl

A CO Tyrone man who bit part of another man’s ear off on the dancefloor of a Belfast nightclub has been sentenced.

Brandon Byrne (19), a fatherof-one from Shandon Park in Omagh, was handed a 16-month sentence, suspended for three years, after he admitted causing the other young man grievous bodily harm.

The injured party lost a section of his ear in the incident, and now uses a prosthetic portion to cover the wound.

At Belfast Crown Court, Judge Patricia Smyth said: “This is an example of the terrible damage that can be caused to young peo- ple through violence associated with drunkenness.”

She also told the injured man: “I sincerely wish I could wave a magic wand and take us back to that night, which is what I want to do, but I can’t.”

The altercation occurred on February 3 this year during a melee on the dancefloor of the Botanic Inn’s upstairs section, where there was an incident between Byrne and a female friend of the injured party.

In ensuing scenes branded as “chaotic”, Byrne then punched the other man twice and got him in a headlock.

Others joined in and at some point during the brawl, Byrne bit the other man’s ear.

Others on the dancefloor tried to pull them apart. It was accepted that while Byrne did bite the other man’s ear, a section of it may have been ripped off during this separation process.

Byrne subsequently admitted causing the other man grievous bodily harm, but made the case he didn’t deliberately bite part of the ear off.

At yesterday’s sentencing, Judge Smyth told Byrne his actions were reckless.

She spoke of the physical and emotional consequences that such a permanent injury has caused to both the injured party and his family.

She said: “Young people are entitled to feel safe when they go out and should not fear unprovoked violence.”