A MAN who disfigured a clubber by biting off the top of his ear has avoided going to jail.

Drunken Dean Kearley, aged 21, clamped his teeth on the man's left ear as they struggled on the floor, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Victim Joseph Trembath said he felt the teeth going through the cartilage.

Kearley admitted biting his ear but said he was too drunk to recall the incident.

He was cleared by a jury of causing grievous bodily harm with intent — which would have meant an immediate prison sentence.

Kearley, of Segrave Road in Milehouse, had earlier admitted the lesser charge of causing grievous bodily harm without intent.

Handing him a suspended sentence, Recorder Robert Linford said his good character and his guilty plea saved him from going to prison.

He told the plasterer: 'You scarred this man permanently in a way which disfigured him. Biting his ear when he was on the floor is unforgivable.'

Mr Trembath had told the court he had been on a night out with around a dozen friends, starting in Tavistock.

The court heard the fight broke out at 2am, later on the night of November 30 last year, on the floor of the Walkabout club in Union Street.

Mr Trembath said the pair fell and he was pinned down on the floor when he felt the stranger's teeth clamped on his ear.

He walked in front of the jury so they could see the rounded top of his left ear was missing.

The court heard that he later needed plastic surgery to repair the wound.

Mr Trembath, a car salesman, said he felt 'frustrated' at the injury.

He said: 'If someone has bitten down on you it could adversely affect your career. I have a high pressure career and it gives completely the wrong impression to my customers.

'I do take a lot of pride in my appearance.'

Kearley said he could not recall the incident but insisted he would not have deliberately set out to seriously hurt the stranger.

Recorder Linford handed him a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was ordered to pay Mr Trembath £2,500 compensation.