"The lad said to me 'it's your ear, it's on the floor' and I looked down and just saw it there."
Those were the words of a dad-of-three who was savagely attacked by a stranger inside a city centre takeaway earlier this year. Darren Melling, from Old Swan, had travelled back from London after watching Everton FC and enjoyed some drinks with his cousin.
Darren went into Hot Chillis takeaway on Berry Street just after midnight on August 27 where he helped a woman with a contactless payment. But before he could say another word a stranger came "nose to nose" with him. The next thing Darren knew he was face down on the floor.
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Darren told the ECHO earlier this year: "I was on the floor, face down, and I could just feel them punching or kicking me. When I got myself up they all ran out of the takeaway. I asked the staff about CCTV but they said they didn't have any.
"There was this lad that also helped me and asked if I was okay, and I said I could feel trauma on my lip and nose. The lad said to me 'it's your ear, it's on the floor' and I looked down and just saw it there."
The NHS worker was rushed to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital before later attending Fazakerley Hospital where his ear was trimmed and sewn up. Darren said since then he's had "sleepless nights and cold sweats", and added: "I've been doubting myself since then, going over what I said and wondering what I did wrong. I wish I did do something because then this would make sense."
A police investigation was launched for the man who attacked Darren. The attacker was described as 6ft 1in, of stocky build, with ginger average length beard and short ginger hair. A Merseyside Police spokesperson confirmed to the ECHO this month there have been no arrests.
But the strange attack yet savage attack was not the only time this year where a man's ear was targeted during an assault. Liverpool Crown Court heard earlier this year how an unnamed commuter feared he would lose his ear when his attacker sunk his teeth into it.
The care assistant was on his way to work when thug Jack Ricketts began hurling abuse at him before subjecting him to a "brutal" assault. The court heard Ricketts called the man a "paedophile" before aiming a barrage of punches at him and biting his ear.
The complainant was left "visibly injured and blooded" and taken to Arrowe Park Hospital. Ricketts was also taken to the same hospital after suffering injuries of his own, where the carer identified him as the man who had attacked him.
Ricketts, who had 10 previous convictions for 20 offences, was jailed for two years after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm. District Judge McGarva said: "This is a horrible case. He was an entirely innocent man, and he had no idea what was about to happen to him. He thought he might have lost his ear. It was a prolonged and persistent attack with the motivation of revenge, as it happens a misplaced motivation. This was brutal."
And earlier this year, in June, Chester Crown Court heard how a thug bit off a man's earlobe during a drunken pub brawl. Michael Williams, of Brookfield Avenue, Runcorn said he acted in "self-defence" after being punched by Phillip Hartley in The Halfway House pub,
Williams had bought drinks for Mr Hartley's wife Clare before goading the married man, telling him to "cheer up and get a haircut". And when Mr Hartley had punched Williams the self-employed joiner retaliated by picking up a chair and he used it to try to hit Mr Hartley, who in turn grabbed him as they “ended up on the floor”.
The fight continued with both parties throwing punches before Mrs Hartley delivered a "stamp" to the groin of Williams. Although medics were unable to re-attach Mr Hartley’s earlobe to the 3cm tear, they completed what Judge Simon Berkson described as an “impressive reconstruction”.
Williams pleaded guilty to one count of Section 20 wounding and was sentenced Williams to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with 200 hours of unpaid work, and orders to pay £500 in compensation to Mr Hartley plus £250 in prosecution costs, and surcharge. Judge Berkson said the attack, which was "so hard you bit off a large part of the earlobe, was "out of character".
Dr Robert Hesketh, from Liverpool John Moores University's School of Justice Studies department, told the ECHO there are several reasons why someone might bite someone's ear. The criminology expert said: "The first reason is someone could be on drugs to get themselves in that kind of mood to bite someone's ear off.
"Doing something like that is a very up close and personal act as you can imagine. It's not like shooting someone from a distance. Drugs like alcohol are facilitators as they will allow an individual to do stuff they normally would think twice about. They can psychologically liberate someone from any form of morality or conscience.
"If it's cocaine for instance, there is also what is called cocaine psychosis. It's a sort of induced Dutch courage. They could also be looking to either get or maintain a reputation, or they could also be looking to send a message out to others. The fourth reason is the culture of hyper masculinity.
"Hyper masculinity would fit into this since an individual [who would bite someone's ear] would have some form of reputation with his peers as an extremely violent person. He would find this opportunity a way of reinforcing that reputation further. Situations like this are often based on hyper masculinity. That's the world these individuals live in where actions are driven by violence."
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