A savage woman boasted on social media with 'grotesque' pictures of a mum's fingertip in her mouth after biting it off.
Libby Armstrong and victim Toni Lough clashed in the toilets of a nightclub then came together again outside the premises and ended up on the ground. As Miss Lough's hand came towards her face, Armstrong clamped her teeth down on her wedding ring finger and bit the full tip off as the victim screamed for her to stop.
A court heard Armstrong, 22, of Shearwater Close, Westerhope, Newcastle, then put disturbing images of herself with the fingertip in her mouth on Snapchat and others added captions. Now she has been jailed at Newcastle Crown Court as the effect on the victim, who is a single mum-of-four and had to quit her job as a sandwich maker, was revealed.
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Both women had been in Manhattans nightclub, in Wallsend, on September 9 last year and when Miss Lough was in the toilets waiting for her friend, Armstrong lunged at her and pulled her hair, dragging her to the ground. Another customer alerted door staff and both women were asked to leave.
Miss Lough was then standing outside the front of the club when Armstrong left through another exit. The court heard Miss Lough went towards Armstrong with hand outstretched and there was a coming together.
Graeme O'Sullivan, prosecuting, said: "Miss Lough ended up on top of the defendant. As her hand went towards the defendant's face she bit onto her ring finger. Miss Lough was screaming at her asking her to stop. She could feel the defendant biting through her finger."
The top third of her left ring finger, including all of the nail, was completely amputated. Miss Lough, who is left-handed, attended hospital in pain and distress. She also had bruising to her ribs and knee.
Mr O'Sullivan said: "After the incident the defendant retained the fingertip and took pictures of herself with the tip in her mouth. She also boasted of her actions on Snapchat and sent the images to her friend." When Armstrong was arrested, she lied when asked where the fingertip was, saying it was left at the scene.
In a victim impact statement, Miss Lough said she had been left depressed as a result of the attack and has ongoing issues with her hand. She ended up needing anti-depressants, sleeping tablets and pain killers and lost a stone in weight due to not eating.
She was a sandwich maker and had to quit her job. Miss Lough said: "I don't want to work with food and I was worried about the public looking at my hand and making comments about it."
She added: "It hurts from the slightest touch even when I run my fingers through my hair. I no longer have a strong grip and if anything touches my finger I drop the item.
"If I ever get married the ring would go on the finger and be a constant reminder."
Armstrong, who has nine previous convictions, including for assaulting an emergency worker and possessing a hammer, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent. She was jailed for four years plus 12 weeks for breaching a previous suspended sentence.
Recorder David Brooke KC told her: "What's most disturbing about the attack, that being bad enough, is in the moments after that you then posed or took pictures which ended up on social media, effectively showing off about it with the tip of the finger in your mouth. That's a concerning feature of this offence."
Matthew Purves, defending, said: "She would apologise for what was dreadful behaviour and also the lasting consequences of her actions on the victim. She expresses genuine remorse and apologises for the behaviour and consequences.
"It goes well beyond self-defence. On the ground, the defendant explains a moment occurred where the complainant's hand is near her face and she bites down on the finger. At this stage a number of door supervisors intervene and pull the two participants apart.
"What followed is a quite grotesque set of photographs being taken of the fingertip in her mouth. There's no explanation for that.
"The Snapchat video lasted four seconds. It's then shared and other individuals capture it on their phones and input captions on it." Mr Purves added that Armsrong had a troubled upbringing and ended up in foster care.
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