A man who bit his stepdad’s nose off and spat it out on the floor during a drunken Christmas Day argument has been jailed.
Joseph Cardwell, 23, had been drinking brandy from 10am before going to his grandparents’ home in Liverpool for dinner in 2023.
Cardwell’s stepdad of two-and-a-half years, William Darwin, was also set to be at the dinner table.
After he remarked on his stepson’s girlfriend attending a gym, a scuffle broke out in the conservatory, and Darwin put Cardwell in a bear hug.
But Cardwell, of Ambleside Drive in Kirkby, broke free from Darwin’s grip and sank his teeth into his stepdad’s nose, a court heard.
Darwin, who became engaged to Cardwell’s mother the month before the attack, suffered injuries so severe that he needed eight rounds of surgery.
His assailant claimed he acted out of ‘self-defence’, alleging that the complainant ‘snapped’, pinned him by the throat against the door and nearly caused him to fall unconscious.
‘This was a very unusual incident which appears to have come out of, quite frankly, nothing at all,’ Sarah Holt, defending, told the court of her ‘regretful’ client.
‘While alcohol appears to have been taken, it does not appear to be the reason for his offending behaviour.’
She added to Liverpool Crown Court that the pair had no history and, overall, seemed to like one another.
Cardwell was cleared of wounding with intent by a jury but convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
He was jailed for 21 months and handed a five-year restraining order.
Judge Denis Watson said: ‘Until this particular incident, the two of you had got on extremely well, it seems.
‘An incident, it seems, arose out of a remark which was not intended to be insulting or cause upset, but it seems that it did.
‘You overreacted to it. That, I am satisfied, is down to the fact that you had been drinking. You chose to confront Mr Darwin and you became a bit like a dog with a bone. You were not prepared to let it go.
‘The ripples that have spread out from this have caused an impact to all sorts of individuals. It really has impacted on his confidence, and the memories of this are never far from his mind. He has no control over whether they return and in what shape or form.’
Detective Inspector Darren Hankin said: ‘This was a vicious and shocking display of violence by Joseph Cardwell and today he has been punished in the courts and is now behind bars.
‘I hope Cardwell now uses the time in jail to reflect on his behaviour, and the significant impact it has had on the victim,’ he added.
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