A violent thug bit a chunk out of a rival’s ear during a savage attack on a Dundee street.
Horrified children were present while Ryan Robertson choked Darren McKay, before ripping part of his ear in an “animalistic”, summer morning attack on Grampian Gardens.
Robertson, 31, claimed Mr McKay ran at him and was forced to defend himself.
His claims were supported by his sister and a friend who were present.
However, a sheriff rejected their evidence and Robertson is now at risk of being jailed.
Sleeper hold and ear bite
Dundee Sheriff Court heard there had been issues between the two men in the run-up to the shocking episode on July 23 last year.
Mr McKay said he had returned home from a nearby shop with his partner, to be greeted by an irate Robertson.
The pair had been involved in an argument earlier that day near the communal bins at a flat block.
“He started running at me,” Mr McKay told the court.
“He started throwing punches and obviously I had to defend myself by punching him back.
“We were scuffling about for a bit. When we got onto the floor he started to choke me first.
“He put me in a sleeper hold and said ‘I want to f***ing kill you’ or something like that. I couldn’t breathe.”
Robertson then bit Mr McKay’s right ear before ending the chokehold.
Mr McKay received stitches and endured three months of injections to prevent the contraction of blood-borne viruses.
He told prosecutor Laura Farquhar: “I would say I’m pretty damaged from it.
“I have not had an easy life but nobody needs that – it’s permanently damaged.
“It’s a vicious attack. It’s disgusting.”
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith viewed Mr McKay’s ear up close after asking him to come out of the witness box to approach the bench.
Solicitor Anika Jethwa suggested to Mr McKay he was the aggressor and Robertson was trying to “get away” from the street.
Mr McKay replied: “He charged at me. He knew exactly what he was doing and I know that, so does he.”
‘Jumped’ in nightclub
In his own evidence, Robertson claimed he had called his sister Frankie Robertson, to pick him up amid fears about being attacked.
The court heard allegations Robertson had been “jumped” by more than a dozen people in a Dundee nightclub a few months earlier.
His sister was accused of honking her car horn to let her brother know Mr McKay had arrived home.
Robertson said: “I stay in my house all the time and don’t really leave my house.
“I just wanted to go because I knew something would end up kicking off.
“He started to run towards me. He starts throwing punches. Me and him start rolling on the ground.
“I feared for my life. I wanted him to get off me and to leave us alone.”
Mr McKay’s partner, Courtney Stewart, described the attack as “animalistic” and “premeditated”.
She said: “I just wanted to drive away but how could I leave Darren in that situation? I felt helpless.”
Guilty
Robertson, of Grampian Gardens, was found guilty of assaulting Mr McKay by shouting, swearing, making a violent threat, repeatedly punching him on the head, seizing and restraining him on the head and neck, choking him, restricting his breathing and biting him on the head to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Sheriff Niven-Smith said the victim and Ms Stewart were “credible and reliable”, while Robertson’s evidence was “self-serving and wholly unconvincing”.
There was further drama after Robertson – who has previous convictions for violence – was sent to the cells over a possible contempt of court when one of his supporters loudly said, “that’s f***ing nonsense” following his conviction.
However, the sheriff recalled the case and said he acted in error and Robertson was released.
He will be sentenced in April following the production of a social work report.
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