Jail for Portsmouth face-biting thug who ripped man's lip off with teeth

Kyran Hagstrom had taken MDMA before he attacked the revellers in the early hours, leaving one man without part of his lip.

The 23-year-old had seen his first victim in Liquid nightclub.

Both men had bumped into and stared at each other in the club, in Stanhope Road, Portsmouth, at around 4am.

They both disappeared into the crowded club, but minutes later Hagstrom punched the man, knocking him to the floor on June 27 last year.

Paul Fairley, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant got on top of him and the next thing he describes is his face feeling very warm.

‘What had happened was Mr Hagstrom had moved to the ground.

‘Straddling him, he had leaned over and, using his teeth, had bitten his face causing the very nasty laceration.’

Part of the victim’s lip was removed in the attack, leaving him with no pink skin surrounding the lip in the corner of his mouth.

Two of his lower front teeth were broken by Hagstrom in the attack, leaving the victim needing root canal treatment.

Reading from the victim’s personal statement, Mr Fairley said: ‘He’s feeling depressed following the incident, difficulties with eating and, because of the damage to his lip, nervous and anxious being in public, in busy and crowded places.’

Jailing Hagstrom for three years, judge Claudia Ackner said: ‘You bit him on the mouth so forcefully that you took out part of his lip.’

The court heard earlier in the night a friend of Hagstrom’s and another man had been pushing and shoving each other in the nightclub.

But when they later left, Hagstrom, of Spur Road Cosham, and the man agreed to fight in the street.

‘There were again some blows, [the victim] appears to be on the ground with Hagstrom straddling him and he was bitten once on the forehead and once on the ear.’

Hagstrom tried to return to the club but was caught.

He told police he was drunk and bit the man as ‘I span out totally’.

‘He said he had bitten his girlfriend before,’ Mr Fairley told the court.

‘He said he didn’t know why he had done that.’

The court heard he has 17 convictions for 20 offences.

He admitted wounding with intent and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Unyime Davies, mitigating, said Hagstrom was followed out of the club by a group wanting a fight with him.

‘At the time of the offences he had consumed a significant amount of alcohol and taken MDMA,’ she said.