A man who bit off the tip of his mother's boyfriend's nose during a family row has been remanded on bail for sentence to October by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The bitten-off tip of the nose was in a glass in the fridge when gardaí arrived. The victim had put it there in the hope that surgeons might be able to reattach it.
"The damage appears quite minimalist now," Judge Joseph Matthews said after scrutinising the work that plastic surgeons did to reconstruct the nose even though the original tip could not be reattached.
Daniel Farren (23), of Glendhu Road, Cabra, Dublin, a pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Patrick McCormack on March 17th, 2003, at the family home which both shared with Farren's mother.
Judge Matthews remanded Farren on bail for sentence to October so he could get benefit of psychiatric reports before imposing a sentence. He warned Farren that if he "does anything stupid between now and then, it's over".
Garda Brian Mahon told prosecuting counsel Padraig Dwyer that Farren's mother was pregnant with Mr McCormack's child at the time of the incident.
Farren had arrived home that evening with his girlfriend after being drinking. He started making a mess in the kitchen, and his mother said something about it. He became angry, lost his temper and became abusive towards her.
Gda Mahon said Mr McCormack stepped in protect her, which is when Farren assaulted him and bit his nose.
Mr McCormack told Judge Matthews that he and Farren's mother now have a child, and that good relations had been restored between him and Farren. He has since learned that Farren was on anti-depressants at the time. "This was kept hidden."
Senior counsel for Farren, Anthony Sammon, said Mr McCormack had written to the Director of Public Prosecutions in February last year asking for the case to be withdrawn, and all proceedings against Farren stopped. This, however, could not be done, hence the sentence hearing.