A MAN who bit the ear of his former girlfriend has been jailed for ten months.

Callum Stephenson launched a violent attack on the woman in a pub car park, grabbing her tightly by the throat and telling her: “I will see you in heaven”.

The 23-year-old, formerly of Westport Close, Stockton, then bit her ear, causing it to bleed and leaving the victim in excruciating pain.

Prosecutor David Crook told Teesside Crown Court that Stephenson only halted his attack when a woman in a car stopped and approached.

Even then he tried to feign that everything was all right, putting his arm around the victim and whispering to her that he could go to jail.

Stephenson had gone to the pub in Stockton to seek out a man he was in dispute in with, but the court heard how the victim had “got in the way”.

Mr Crook said it was a sustained attack, committed while he was on bail and in drink.

Stephenson, who was convicted of the assault on March 13 this year and sending menacing messages to the victim's mother, had previous convictions for violence. He was described as “not unintelligent” and hoped to put his criminal behaviour behind him.

Judge Michael Taylor said it was a particularly unpleasant attack. He told Stephenson: “Your temper knows no bounds”.

The judge jailed him for a total of ten months and also made him subject to a restraining order in respect of contact with the victim.