A FORMER soldier now studying at Aberystwyth University and heading for a First has been jailed for biting a man’s ear in a town centre pub.
Geraint Evan Jones, aged 25, had been dressed as Colonel Gaddafi during a Halloween night out and bit off most of a stranger’s ear.
Jones thought that Gwynant Lewis Jones had pushed him while they had been standing at the bar of the Academy pub in Great Dark Gate Street.
He leaned over and bit Mr Jones’ ear ‘to shock him’ and held on when others tried to force them apart.
Jones, of Quern’s Avenue, Aberystwyth, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm but denied doing so with intent. He was cleared of the more serious charge after a trial at Swansea Crown Court.
Jones was jailed for 16 months by Judge Geraint Walters, who told him he hoped the sentence would not prevent him from graduating in International History and Politics.
He said he still could not understand why a man who had the self control to serve in the most violent areas of Afghanistan as a soldier could lose his temper in a bar.
“This was revenge. You thought Mr Jones had pushed you but you misidentified him and clinically used your teeth as a weapon.
“It was savage and unjustified,” added the judge.
But by the jury’s verdict it was now accepted that the ear had been torn away as others tried to drag Jones off his victim while his teeth still gripped it.
The court had heard during the trial how Mr Jones, from Machynlleth, had been a complete stranger in a very crowded bar.
CCTV footage showed Jones leaving the bar area and putting down his drink only to return within seconds and attack Mr Jones.
A large part of his left ear was ripped off. Bar staff found it but doctors said it was impossible to reattach it.
Mr Jones is still under the treatment of plastic surgeons at Swansea’s Morriston hospital.
During a plea for mitigation Jones’ barrister, James Hartson, said he had hoped for a career in the diplomatic service but that dream was now over.
He had been a member of the Pembrokeshire Air Cadets and of the Pembrokeshire Your Fire Fighters and, after leaving the Army to study, had joined the Army Reserve.
“It is difficult if not impossible for him to explain his actions that night. He was extremely intoxicated and is now deeply ashamed and appalled by his actions.
“Two men have had their lives changed forever,” he added.
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