A former bus driver accused his girlfriend of spiking his food before biting her on the nose.
Colin Chapman left his partner bloodied and bruised after a "prolonged and persistent" drunken attack at the couple's Wirral home, which also saw him knee his victim in the face.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Thursday, that the 56-year-old and the complainant were having their tea at around 6pm on March 12 this year when the incident erupted. He estimated that he had consumed "about five drinks", while she stated he had drank "considerably more".
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Prosecutor Joanne Cronshaw described how Chapman, of Macdonald Road in Moreton, accused her of "adulterating" his meal and told her to taste it as he believed there was "something untoward in it". He then grabbed hold of her and pulled her to the floor.
In an assault lasting around 10 minutes, he kneed her in the cheek - causing bruising and a cut to her face - before biting her on the nose and making threats to kill her. The relationship has since ended and she has since moved back to her native Wales to "start afresh", having "packed up and moved to a completely new area" in order to be with her abuser.
The court heard how the victim "finds herself in a state of panic doing simple tasks", including going shopping. In a statement read out on her behalf, she said: "I feel numb and broken, and in all honesty I'm still in shock."
Chapman was last before the courts for drunk and disorderly behaviour in 2010 and has previous convictions dating back 34 years. He formerly worked as a bus driver for 10 years and received a promotion in his current job as recently as July.
Suzanne Payne, defending, told the court that her client would lose his employment and home if jailed. She added: "He has taken steps to address his alcohol use.
"He realises he was drinking more than he should have been and masking any issues he did have. At the time he was under considerable stress.
"He lost his father two years ago and his mum became very ill. She was hospitalised at the time and he lost her two days after this offence took place.
"It's still very raw for him. He realises that to move forward he needs help to break the cycle of using alcohol as a crutch.
"He accepts the court's verdict. He now realises the impact this has had upon his ex-partner.
"This was a one-off incident. Mr Chapman has assured me it will never happen again and he will not come before these courts."
Chapman was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after a trial and was jailed for 18 months. He was also handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim for five years and must pay a victim surcharge.
Sentencing, Recorder Richard Conley said: "The abuse of alcohol played a very significant role in events which took place on the day of this unfortunate and very sorry episode. Things turned sour when you made a suggestion that she had somehow adulterated your food with something.
"Most troublingly, you bit her on the nose. That causes me considerable concern, not only because of the pain and suffering you would have caused her but because there is something particularly unpleasant and disturbing about the use of a bite.
"You are a well set gentleman. You are considerably stronger, heavier and more powerful than your victim.
"It is some small comfort that the injuries appear to be relatively superficial. This has had a very considerable impact upon her.
"She now has to relocate and start again from the beginning, something she never thought she would have to do. This was an offence committed upon her by somebody with whom she was in a relationship, somebody who supposedly loved and cared for her and somebody with whom she could expect to feel safe in her own home.
"Clearly, she was not safe on that day. She was in considerable danger.
"It was prolonged and it was persistent, lasting around 10 minutes with a number of blows inflicted. I am prepared to treat this as an isolated incident of violence, albeit one that was extremely serious.
"When you are not abusing alcohol, you are a decent, upstanding man who contributes to society in a positive way. But I'm afraid you let yourself down in a very serious way during this incident and that was a great tragedy for you, one which I am sure you bitterly regret.
"I'm afraid you chose to get drunk in the way you did that day and behave in the way you did, and there is going to be a price to pay for the decisions you took.
"I regret to say I would be failing in my duty to the public if I were not to pass a sentence of immediate imprisonment in this case for an offence of this ferocity committed in a domestic context against a helpless woman who was unable to defend herself. This is unacceptable behaviour.
"Your position might have been different if you had accepted your wrongdoing at the outset. But you continued to victim blame by somehow claiming you had acted in self-defence and were somehow blameless."
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