News / Man bit ear in self defence
A YOUNG Lerwick man who admitted injuring a fellow nightclubber by biting him in his left ear walked free from court on Wednesday after Sheriff Philip Mann accepted he had acted in self defence.
During a two hour trial Lerwick Sheriff Court heard how 20 year old Scott Rae and 23 year old Michael Farmer became involved in a drunken quarrel in the men’s toilet of Posers nightclub, in the early hours of 27 October.
After being pushed into a corner, Rae, of 101 St Olaf Street, Lerwick, bit his opponent in the ear.
He was arrested later the same night, spent the weekend in custody and ended up in the dock of the town’s sheriff court.
Heavily bleeding, Farmer attended Gilbert Bain Hospital ere he received one stitch to his ear.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said Rae’s response had been violent and abhorrent, and as such was grossly disproportionate to be regarded as self defence.
Giving evidence Rae freely admitted biting Farmer in the ear, but said it happened in the heat of the moment and was something he deeply regretted.
“I was jammed up in a corner, I felt pressured. I didn’t start the quarrel and asked several times for him to let go,” Rae said.
Defence solicitor Tommy Allan said his client’s response could be seen as reasonable as he felt he was being threatened with violence.
After taking the lunch hour to consider his verdict, sheriff Mann said he was satisfied Rae was defending himself.
“I accept that biting an ear is abhorrent but in my view it is not necessarily so when used in self defence,” he said.
Unrelated to this case, Rae was fined £400 for possessing 3.4 grammes of cannabis resin and obstructing police officers when he ran away from them on 14 December last year.
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