Woman bit off part of her ex’s ear

7:40pm Wednesday 23rd July 2008

A 45-year-old woman who acted bizarrely before biting off part of her ex-lover's ear at a pagan wedding reception has been found guilty at Worcester Crown Court of unlawful wounding.

But Judge Patrick Thomas QC assured Gaile Stevens that he would not punish her with prison but was more likely to impose a community order.

Stevens, of Kirbymoorside, near Pickering, West Yorkshire, had denied the allegation during a two-day trial.

The prosecution alleged that she had invaded the wedding ceremony being hosted by Peter Lees at his home in Wellington Heath, near Ledbury, on September 23 last year. The pair had split amicably a few weeks before she turned up at the wedding.

He said she was acting bizarrely, dressed as a comedy cleaning woman with rubber gloves and a broom. After the ceremony, he visited her van and found she had a tattoo on her face and she was howling and hissing. It was as though she was possessed by the devil, he said.

He was concerned she was having mental health problems,, so called police and an ambulance. But she ran off cackling into woods and threatened to return later. When she came back, she beckoned him for an embrace and sunk her teeth into his ear as he bent towards her. The missing part of the ear was never found.

Stevens told the court that the bite was an accident and that Mr Lees was unhappy to see her because he had heard about her relationship with another man.

Judge Thomas said medical evidence showed Stevens was suffering from psychotic episodes but this was no defence in law to the wounding allegation. Releasing her on bail for a psychiatric report, he adjourned sentencing until September in Birmingham.

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