Poker brawl costs man his ear
Blow up at a game in an Ipswich Conservative club sees man jailed for three years after biting off part of his opponent's ear.
A poker tournament taking place in an Ipswich Conservative club blew up in an extraordinary manner after James Salisbury, 27, bit a chunk out of the ears of another player.
The attack occurred after a game on January 4 last year when his victim, Robert Reed, exited the club for a cigarette. In a lowball move, he was then punched to the floor, pinned down where his ear was bitten before being spat out by Salisbury.
Although at first Reed felt no pain, he soon realised part of his ear was missing when he reached to touch it before finding it on the ground. The missing piece was hastily put in ice and later grafted back on in a local hospital in Suffolk, United Kingdom.
The assault, which had begun earlier in the evening after Salisbury, drunk and abusive, started swearing at Reed's friends, also left the victim with swelling to his eye and an injury to his shoulder following his flop.
Three year sentence
Salisbury admitted GBH and was sentenced to three years. While handing down the sentence, Judge Rupert Overbury, who also ordered Mr Salisbury not to make contact with Mr Reed, said,
"Unfortunately when you have too much to drink you behave aggressively. Your attack on Mr Reed was unprovoked and extremely violent. Every time he looks in the mirror he will be reminded of that evening.”
Despite pleading guilty, Salisbury's lawyer, Nicola May, said that due to the level of her client's inebriation, he could not remember being aggressive to Mr Reed or his friends but was apologetic for any injuries he caused, before adding that the defendant was held in high regard by his employers.
