Mum bites off friend's ear in savage kebab shop attack after drunken night out
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES Victoria Burgess chewed through Jenna Edwards's ear during the senseless attack in the early hours of a night out.
Liz Day
Abigail O'Leary
A mum has bitten half of her friend's ear off during a sickening brutal attack while on a night out.
Victoria Burgess chewed through Jenna Edwards's ear during the early hours of April 6 earlier this year.
Edwards was also kicked in the takeaway while she lay on the floor bleeding in pain and in shock following the senseless attack.
Victoria Burgess proceeded to kick Jenna Edwards after biting her ear in a kebab shop (Image: walesonline.co.uk / WS)
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A court heard the victim subsequently found part of her ear on the floor and picked it up before dropping it back to the ground as she was "horrified".
Sentencing Burgess at Newport Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Daniel Williams described the attack as "brutal", reports Wales Online.
Bethan Evans, prosecuting, said Burgess and Jenna Edwards had been friends for about four years, the Daily Mirror reports.
The day before the incident they took their children to a play centre together and Burgess said she was fed up of being stuck in the house every day.
Prosecutors said they made plans to go and play bingo the next day and Ms Edwards went to the defendant's home at around 5pm.
Jenna Edwards's ear following the attack in April earlier this year (Image: walesonline.co.uk / WS)
The court heard Burgess had an argument with her husband and the friends decided to go for a drink in the city centre instead of playing bingo.
They shared a bottle of wine in a Wetherspoon pub before drinking lager in Potters Pub.
Prosecutors said they decided to go and get food and walked past a woman who appeared to be homeless as they made their way to a kebab shop.
The court heard Burgess gave her bank card to her friend and told her to go and get cash to give to the woman.
Ms Edwards could not remember the pin and withdrew some of her own money but could not find Burgess when she came back.
Prosecutors said the defendant had gone on to the kebab shop and "screamed" at her friend something about stealing.
Ms Evans told the court the victim could not remember much of what happened next other than "excruciating" pain.
She said: "She described feeling pain in her ear and blood dripping down her arm.
"Her only recollection is of looking down and seeing part of her ear on the floor. She picked it up and threw it back to the ground, horrified at the sight of it."
Ms Evans played footage of the incident, which was caught on a security camera in the kebab shop.
She told the court: "I should say the footage is quite graphic."
Judge Williams said: "If there is anybody in the public gallery who does not wish to view the footage, if they want to leave court, now is the time to do it."
Burgess cried in the dock, lowered her head, and covered her ears as it was played.
Jenna Edwards said she had never been so scared in all her life (Image: walesonline.co.uk / WS)
The footage showed her biting the victim's ear and then kicking her while she was on the ground.
Police attended and found Ms Edwards "very distressed" and in pain. They noted the defendant was intoxicated and slurring her words.
Prosecutors said the severed ear was put in the fridge at the fast food shop and later sutured back on.
The court heard Ms Edwards was taken to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital at around 1am and waited for five hours to be seen.
Doctors noted the right half of the ear was completely detached, with the wound running the whole length of the ear.
The victim also suffered bruising to her right eye and both shoulders as well as pain and red marks to her head.
In a victim impact statement summarised in court Ms Edwards said she was given treatment options and had to make a decision.
She said: "I broke down in tears, trying to take in the information and make the right decision."
The victim opted to have 48-hour leech therapy designed to try and save the rest of her ear, which later turned black.
"I have never felt so scared in my life," she said. "I could not stop crying and was sick repeatedly."
The court heard she had panic attacks and heart palpitations and was prescribed diazepam to help her feel calmer.
She added: "I could not stop shaking and I thought my ear was not going to survive. I was terrified of the outcome."
Ms Edwards, a mum-of-two, said her stomach turned as the leeches were applied to her wounded ear.
Jenna Edwards and Victoria (right) had been friends for four years (Image: walesonline.co.uk / WS)
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She said her life has "changed completely" since the incident as she now feels nervous all the time and does not like to leave home by herself.
The court heard her youngest daughter did not want to go near her when she first saw the injury.
Ms Edwards said she no longer wears her hair up and will not go to the hairdresser as she feels embarrassed when people see the injury.
Jenna's injuries after her ear had been stitched back together (Image: walesonline.co.uk / WS)
Prosecutors said she went back to work in June but suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. She has also been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The victim said: "To this day I do not go out on my own."
She said she still has pain in her ear and cannot sleep on her right side, or use a phone, as it hurts too much and she may have to have further surgery.
Ms Edwards added: "At the end of the day I cannot believe this has happened. She was my friend. I will never trust anyone.
"This incident has left me lonely and isolated – a prisoner in my own home."
In her police interview Burgess accepted drinking in the city centre with her friend and described herself as "quite merry".
She told officers they had an argument about giving money to a homeless person and stated the complainant bit her first.
Burgess accepted biting Ms Edwards' ear but told the police she did not believe she had bitten it off. She could not say why she kicked the victim when she was on the floor.
Jenna picked up half her ear from the kebab shop floor (Image: walesonline.co.uk / WS)
Prosecutors said she had been before the courts for three previous offences of public disorder.
Burgess, 27, from Melfort Road in Newport, admitted wounding with intent.
Andrew Kendall, defending, handed the judge a number of character references, describing her as hard-working, kind, and compassionate.
The court heard Burgess, who used to work for the South Wales Argus, set up a toddler group and helped to care for a grandparent and her niece.
Mr Kendall accepted: "This is a horrible offence – there is no getting away from that."
He said the defendant had a two-year-old daughter and told the court her "biggest punishment" would be being away from her child.
In a letter to the judge Burgess described herself as "heartbroken". Her barrister said: "She is fully aware the court only has one option."
In his sentencing remarks Judge Williams noted she "flew into a rage", adding: "You were the aggressor throughout."
He said: "The assault was so sudden and brutal and unexpected that Ms Edwards has little recollection of it."
The judge described the footage of the incident as "utterly sickening" and said: "It shows a blow even after you have bitten half her ear off.
Jenna Edwards seen with blood on the floor and on her hands following the attack (Image: walesonline.co.uk / WS)
"The severed ear was reattached but her life has changed completely."
Burgess started crying in the dock and appeared to be short of breath.
Judge Williams said: "The defendant is not well. I will adjourn while she is attended to."
The court was cleared for a few minutes and then the judge asked if the defendant was well enough to carry on.
Mr Kendall indicated she was but as Judge Williams started to discuss sentencing guidelines, she became unwell again.
The court was cleared for a second time and, after a few minutes, Mr Kendall said he had asked his client if she would prefer to stay out of court while sentence was passed but she wanted to be there.
Judge Williams noted the "profound ongoing effect" on the victim as he jailed Burgess for four and a half years.
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