A Fife woman has been convicted of a gory attack in which she bit part of a care home worker’s left ear off after a round-the-clock party.
A jury at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court returned a guilty verdict, after Shan Marshall’s three-day.
Marshall, 27, had denied the grizzly assault on Chantelle Mitchell but the majority of jurors agreed she had assaulted Ms Mitchell, seized her by the body, repeatedly punched her on the head and bitten her on the ear, causing a piece of flesh to detach.
Earlier in the trial, the jury heard Ms Mitchell had fallen asleep after a day of drinking beer and vodka, but sobered up when she was attacked.
Marshall admitted to the court she threw the first punch in a fight but had claimed she was “100% certain she never bit her.”
The horrific attack left Ms Mitchell severely injured and permanently disfigured.
Addressing the court earlier in the trial, Ms Mitchell said: “I had gone to sleep and my ear got bitten off. I was awake when it happened.
“I remember Shan leaning in and put her head around me and biting my ear. I had my hands over my face.”
When Marshall’s defence solicitor Lee Qumsieh suggested the bite had not happened, Ms Mitchell replied: “Well, I can’t just bite my own ear off, can I?”
The first day of the trial heard how the missing chunk of ear was never found.
Marshall, of Hyndloup Terrace in Cardenden – referred to as Sian Marshall throughout the trial – committed the offence at another property in the street on October 5 2019.
She was remanded by Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist and will appear for sentencing on June 3 after reports are written up.
However, Marshall – who has two previous convictions including assault to injury – has been told that already a prison sentence is “extremely likely”.
Sheriff Gilchrist said: “You have been convicted of a vicious assault.
“It is extremely likely that the end result is a custodial sentence.”
