Mother’s ear bitten off in bullying row Victim called ‘a witch’ in horrific attack over children
A MOTHER-OF-FOUR bit off part of another woman’s ear in a ‘horrific’ attack, after she believed the victim’s son had bullied her own child, a court has heard.
Grace Nganga, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing serious harm to another woman in Meelick, Co. Clare, on August 23, 2014.
The victim told gardaí she answered her front door to the accused, who started ‘ranting and raving’ about children bullying her son.
She claimed that when she responded that she knew nothing about it, Ms Nganga called her a ‘witch’ and ‘an evil wicked woman’ and knocked her to the ground. The victim told gardaí the accused grabbed her and pulled her out of her door.
John O’Sullivan, prosecuting, told Limerick Circuit Court yesterday that the victim was wearing ‘a wrap’ at the time and she thought the accused ‘was trying to strip her’.
‘She was grabbed, knocked to the floor… she felt something cold dripping down along her neck. She was bleeding from her ear. She tried to push the accused back with her left shoulder but the accused kept biting,’ Mr O’Sullivan said.
The court heard that when the victim’s husband approached the pair, the accused spat out part of the victim’s ear onto the ground.
‘It was an unprovoked, savage attack,’ Mr O’Sullivan said.
The court heard the victim and the ear part were initially taken to University Hospital Limerick, but she was subsequently transferred to University Hospital Galway for surgery. However, the ear part could not be re-attached.
The victim denied claims by Ms Nganga that she had bitten one of her fingers. Garda Alan Griffin, who responded to the scene, told the court he found no evidence of a bite mark on any of the accused’s fingers.
In an impact statement the victim said the attack left her ‘in bits’ and that ‘everyday is a struggle’ for her. She attended counselling but this had not helped.
The victim said she now ‘hates’ her appearance, and ‘can no longer look in the mirror’.
The court heard the victim could not afford €20,000 for reconstructive surgery which had been available in England.
The accused, with an address at McHale Road, Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, offered an apology to the victim, who was not present in court. Ms Nganga said she ‘went too far’, but that ‘there was no intention for this to happen’.
Judge Tom O’Donnell said the evidence was ‘horrific to say the least’. He will pass sentence on July 26.
Asking him not to impose a custodial sentence, Andrew Sexton, defending, said Ms Nganga, a Nigerian national, had suffered enough, and that her employment prospects would likely be negatively impacted by her conviction.
Ms Nganga was supported in court by her husband, a chef.
‘I can no longer look in the mirror’