A barmaid who had her ear bitten off has received abusive messages after her attacker was jailed.
Michelle Thomas, from Birkenhead, was left with permanent injuries following the incident at The Firemans Arms in Birkenhead. At Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, Gemma Rowlands admitted wounding and was jailed for 14 months.
Her husband Darren More pleaded guilty to affray and was handed a four-month imprisonment suspended for a year. The court heard how Rowlands and More were described as "causing trouble from the start" after entering the pub on the evening of November 11, 2019. At around 10.30pm, Rowlands began arguing with other customers and she and More were asked to leave the pub.
READ MORE: Barmaid 'permanently disfigured' after woman bit her ear off in pub
But a scuffle ensued in which landlady Michelle fell to the floor with Rowlands "on top of her". Her ear was bitten by the carer at this point as drinkers tried to separate them.
More was seen pushing and fighting with peacekeepers as they did so, with his top being removed during the altercation. Both he and Rowlands were then thrown out of the premises.
Michelle shared her story and described the incident as "traumatising". The 37-year-old has been left permanently disfigured and her mental health has "deteriorated".
She told the ECHO: "I spend a lot of time at my mum's now due to my mental health, rather than staying at home. Obviously from court yesterday I went straight to my mum's and stayed there last night."
Michelle added: "For the first two years, I was really paranoid all the time. I already had OCD but my mental health deteriorated, I had all my medication increased. I then started to live it with it for a bit and then the [hearing] came around and I was back at the doctors.
"I had to come out of work while they changed all my medication again."
Following Rowlands' and More's sentencing, Michelle has received an abusive message from someone who she believes knows the couple. The shocking message said how they "hope to God" someone would bite Michelle's "nose off".
The full message said: "You're a horrible little liar you. That poor woman has kids. She didn't f****** bite your ear off you disgusting little cow. Took a poor woman away from her kids for nothing.
"Funny how you were saying how much this affected you considering you've been holidays many times since this happened. You're a disgrace bringing such shame to someone's name like that.
"You're a vile f****** woman I've never known anything f****** like it, I honestly hope to god someone actually bites your nose off you ugly little t***."
Defending Rowlands at Liverpool Crown Court, who has no previous convictions, David Polglase said a dispute had erupted after his client "removed a child from the toilets" and took them to their parents, but was accused of having "scared" the youngster.
The assault then came after the 25-year-old, who works with autistic children, and her friend had been "grabbed by their hair and taken out" following the dispute.
Mr Polgase said: "She assisted in removing a child from the toilets and returned the child to one of the parents. She defended her position and said she hadn't scared the child.
"There are others involved who were not holding back or covering themselves in glory. My lay client looks back at what happened that night with remorse and regret.
"Your honour can genuinely look at this eight minutes and says that is something very different and out of character for Ms Rowlands. She has not been in trouble before.
"It is evident that my lay client can be a successful member of society and is valued in her employment. She is disgusted by her actions."
More, has one previous convictions for drink driving in 2015. After his arrest, the 31-year-old said he had consumed 12 pints of Carling and a "fight just kicked off".
He later said that he too had been acting as a "peacekeeper". Charles Lander, defending, told the court that his client worked 80 hour weeks in traffic management and had become a "step father" to Rowlands' kids.
More's counsel added: "It is over three years since the commission of this offence. Mr More isn't someone who has just sat around, he is someone who is hard-working.
"He is someone who joined the army and was hoping for a promising career, but he snapped his ligament in 2010 and his progress was cut short. References describe the defendant as hard-working, reliable, punctual, well-mannered, a joy to work with and someone who cares for his family.
"He had drunk too much that day. He was minding his own business, a man grabbed hold of him and perhaps his natural instincts kicked in at seeing his partner on the floor being restrained - he accepts what he did then became unlawful."
Rowlands, of Victoria Road in Tranmere, admitted wounding and was jailed for 14 months. More, also of Victoria Road in Tranmere, pleaded guilty to affray and was handed a four-month imprisonment suspended for a year.
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