Man walks free after jury finds he bit off part of friend’s ear in self-defence

A JURY yesterday delivered a unanimous not guilty verdict in a case where a west Clare man pleaded self-defence when biting off part of a friend’s ear.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Patrick O’Neill, 30, of Tullagher, Moyasta, Kilrush, Co Clare, walked free from court after the jury delivered the verdict after deliberating for less than 90 minutes.

In the case, counsel for O’Neill, Lorcan Connolly BL, said his client had bitten part of the ear off his friend Eddie Earls “in an act of self-defence”.

O’Neill denied the assault causing harm of Mr Earls from Castletroy, Limerick, at O’Curry Street, Kilkee, on October 12, 2008.

Judge Leoni Reynolds said if the jury believed O’Neill’s account it was an act of self-defence, they had to be satisfied the self-defence was genuine and there was no more force used than was reasonable.

In his closing speech, Mr Connolly said: “Both friends had started drinking together on a night out and, by the end of the night, one of them had part of his ear detached.”

The court heard O’Neill lost the sight in an eye and had his left arm partially disabled as a result of an assault in 2005.

Mr Connolly said O’Neill feared he would lose his other eye in the struggle with Mr Earls.

In a statement to gardaí, O’Neill said he had Mr Earls’s ear in his mouth. He said: “I panicked and I bit down hard to try to save myself.”

Urging the jury to find O’Neill not guilty, Mr Connolly said: “If you had lost one eye and you felt that you were in danger of losing another, you could do anything I suggest.”

However, counsel for the sate, Stephen Coughlan BL said Mr Earls’s demeanour in the witness box showed the victim was appalled at the thought he could take out someone’s eye.

Mr Coughlan said Mr Earls described the incident up until the ear bite as “handbagging” and Mr Coughlan asked: “Where was the proportionality in biting the ear off Mr Earls?”

Mr Coughlan said Mr Earls was adamant he didn’t initiate the incident.

In his statement to gardaí, O’Neill said that Mr Earls was on top of him. However, Mr Coughlan said the only person sober on the night, John Campbell, witnessed the incident and said it was O’Neill who was on top of Mr Earls.

Mr Coughlan said later on Mr Campbell saw O’Neill took off his belt, wrapping it around his fist wanting to have another go at Mr Earls.

In a report provided to the court, Ear, Nose and Throat consultant Dr Neville Shine said that reconstructive surgery on Mr Earls’s ear had taken place and it had healed to his satisfaction.