Drunk woman bit off chunk of man's lip after he thought she was going to kiss him

The victim thought Stefanie Northern, of Wakefield, was going to kiss him but instead she tore a five centimetre-long piece of his lip off.

Leeds Crown Court was told her ex-partner had challenged her after his wallet had gone missing and the pair began to argue.

During the ensuing argument, in January 2021, Northern leaned in as if she was going to kiss hm but then sunk her teeth into his lip, before banging his head against a radiator and fleeing the scene.

The court was told she was drunk and became angry when the police arrived. As officers put her in the back of a police car, she also bit an officer who was trying to restrain her on the arm.

The man was taken to hospital by ambulance where he needed treatment for his wounds.

After Northern was put her in the back of the police car, she kept leaning forward, so the officer in the passenger seat put his arm across the gap to stop her distracting the driver. She then bit his arm.

A van was called and she was then placed into a cage to transport her to the station.

The 36-year-old, of Priory Court, Ossett, eventually admitted a charge of unlawful wounding and assaulting an emergency worker.

Mitigating, Andrew Stranex said: "The Stefanie Northern you see today is not the one I met last year. She was in a terrible place because of her dependence on alcohol.

"What she has tried to do, and to a large degree succeeded, has managed to address the problems she has got. She is motivated to improve her life. She is deeply remorseful for what she did that night."

Mr Stranex said Northern was engaging with the Wakefield mental health team, Turning Point, and is waiting to to be admitted into a detox programme.

The judge, Recorder Bryan Cox QC described it as a "nasty assault" but accepted the progress Northern had made since then.

He gave her a 12-month community order, with 25 rehabilitation days.

She was also given three month curfew order, to keep her at her home address between 9pm and 6am each day, and a two-year restraining order to keep her away from her former partner.