West Denton thug bit and strangled partner while on bail for slashing man's face in Newcastle pub fight
by Rob Kennedy · ChronicleLiveA thug who strangled and bit his partner while on bail for slashing a man's face during a pub brawl has been jailed.
Michael Thompson left a man with knife wounds to his face following a row at Newcastle bar which resulted in the pair fighting. Having pleaded guilty to that attack, he was bailed pending sentence but just two weeks later he attacked his then-girlfriend.
Newcastle Crown Court heard he left her in intense pain by biting her cheek for around ten seconds and also grabbed her neck. Now the 28-year-old, of Fourstones, West Denton, Newcastle, has been locked up.
It was back on November 21 2021 that Thompson got into a row with a man in the toilet of The Denton pub. Thompson left but later returned and went looking for the man and said he would kill him.
He was offered a knife by a friend, which he took before confronting the victim and slashing him to the face with it during a fight, leaving him with four lacerations, including one measuring 12cm. The court heard the victim, who was likely to have been left with lifelong scarring, has since died but that is unrelated to the attack.
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Two weeks after pleading guilty to that offence, Thompson was bailed by a judge pending sentence but then went on to attack his girlfriend. He had been drinking when he started arguing with her and they went back to his home to order food.
When she took him his food upstairs, he started shouting at her and he grabbed her over her mouth, told her to be quiet and threatened to murder her, prosecutor John Crawford said. He added: "He pushed against her neck, constricting her airway then bit her cheek for around ten seconds.
"She said it was so intense and ten out of ten on the pain scale." Thompson then tried to stop her leaving and grabbed her throat again before she was able to get out.
The victim, who was left with a bite mark, said in a statement: "I lost a lot of things the night this happened. I lost my best friend, my partner and myself.
"I want Michael to know I'm no longer angry with him and I'm willing to forgive him and want him to move forward in the same way I am. I hope he is able to find peace within himself now I'm willing to forgive him.
"He will always have a special place in my heart. I wish Michael all the best and hope he is getting the help and support he needs."
Thompson pleaded guilty to wounding the first victim and strangulation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the woman. He was jailed for three years and given an indefinite restraining order.
Mairi Clancy, defending, said before these offences Thompson had been a "well-functioning member of society" with a good work ethic and said he "bitterly regrets" his offending. She added that he has been working in prison on the information desk helping new inmates and is a mentor who helps other prisoners re-establish contact with their families. He has also been taking steps to address his alcohol problem, which played a part in the offences.
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