Co Antrim man jailed for 'horrific' bite attack on wife has time behind bars extended
A man serving an eight month jail sentence after a "truly horrific" incident when he bit his wife's chin, has had two months added to his time behind bars in connection with another assault on her.
The 55-year-old had been given the eight month term in September on charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and breaching a Restraining Order.
Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, had been told that during the bite incident in March this year the defendant, Neil McCartan, with an address listed as Laurelbank in Poleglass near Belfast, also slapped his wife on the face.
Police had received a 999 call at 1am on March 14 this year "from the defendant stating that he had assaulted his partner and that police should be sent to the property", a prosecutor said.
Officers arrived and saw an injury to the victim's chin with blood on her face. Police were told she and the defendant had been "out drinking" and when they returned to a property a verbal argument had ensued.
The defendant had slapped her on the face "before proceeding to bite her on the chin". In March he had been the subject of a Restraining Order following a previous assault on the victim, the court was told.
A defence barrister accepted it had been an "appalling" incident on March 14. The lawyer had said domestic violence is a "scourge on our society".
The defendant, who had 76 previous convictions, said he had alcohol taken and claimed he didn't remember what happened but was pleading guilty. "The relationship is over," the barrister had said.
At September's court, District Judge Nigel Broderick had told the defendant: "What you did was truly horrific to your wife. Slapping her on the face and then biting her on the chin, appalling behaviour."
The defendant had received an eight months jail sentence in September and a three year Restraining Order is in place including an exclusion from a part of Antrim town.
At the time of the March offence, McCartan had been the subject of an Enhanced Combination Order (ECO) of 100 hours of Community Service as well as Probation for previously assaulting his partner.
He was brought back before the court on Tuesday (October 27) after failing to complete the ECO. Tuesday's court was told that on July 18 last year the defendant punched his partner's face causing an injury to her eye and when police arrived he kicked an officer.
A defence barrister said McCartan had done 40 of the 100 hours of Community Service and had complied with Probation for a time. He said the defendant had an "ongoing battle with alcohol".
The ECO has now been revoked and replaced with a two months prison term which Judge Broderick ordered to be consecutive to McCartan's current sentence.