Jail term for ear biting attack

Sentencing took place at Edinburgh Sheriff Court

A man who bit off a stranger's ear then invited bus passengers to photograph the severed part has been jailed for three years and four months.

David Blakey, 22, was on a curfew and electronically tagged when he attacked Malcolm Zenati as they waited for a bus in Edinburgh on 5 January.

Blakey previously pled guilty to biting Mr Zenati's left ear to his injury and permanent disfigurement.

He was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

CCTV footage from the bus showed Blakey waving the piece of ear around and boasting what he had done moments later.

Sheriff Isabella McColl ordered Blakey to be supervised for 12 months after his release "to protect the public".

It is particularly noticeable and the gentleman will have to live with that Leanne McQuillan Defence solicitor

"I'm told that you are disgusted by your offence," she said. "I don't think any normal person would not be," said the sheriff.

"The pictures of what happened and your conduct afterwards is certainly out of the ordinary in my experience," she added.

Blakey, who has three previous convictions for assault to injury, had only been released from prison for a month when he and a group of friends had a minor argument with Mr Zenati and his friends in an Edinburgh nightclub.

Blakey and his friends left the club and met Mr Zenati and his group at a bus stop in Leopold Place where a fight broke out.

Anger management

The victim was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and later transferred to St Johns' Hospital in Livingston for specialist treatment and was found to have lost between 50% and 70% of his ear.

Defence solicitor Leanne McQuillan said Blakey, who was drunk, had become involved after two of his friends were assaulted by Mr Zenati's group.

"Mr Blakey is extremely ashamed of himself," she said. "When he saw the photographs he was genuinely upset and distressed that he had caused this injury to someone.

"This man has been permanently disfigured. It is particularly noticeable and the gentleman will have to live with that."

She said Blakey, who has a three-year-old son, was now receiving drugs and alcohol counselling and had signed up for an anger management course.

The sentence will be backdated to 25 February when Blakey was taken into custody.