Gateshead woman bit off part of her partner's lip and spat it out during row over cheating claims
by Rob Kennedy · ChronicleLiveA woman who bit off part of her partner's lip then spat it out during a row over allegations of cheating has walked free from court.
It was on the evening of Saturday March 19 2022 that the victim was at home with her partner of three years, Sarah-Louise Elliott. Elliott began accusing the woman of cheating on her and grabbed her phone and it fell on the floor, cracking the screen.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that as the argument continued, Elliott, 23, rang her mother and the victim shouted "your daughter is beating me up". The victim then went on to brand Elliott's mother a "homophobic freak", which led to her seeing red.
Elliott hit the woman with the palm of her hand and then pushed her, causing her to fall backwards onto the floor, where she kicked her to the leg three times. Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said: "The complainant got up off the floor and the defendant was screaming at her, accusing her of cheating on the defendant.
"The complainant tried to push her away. The defendant then grabbed her face with both hands and moved her face towards her face and bit her bottom lip.
"She tried to pull away. She continued biting her lip and would not let go. She then saw the defendant spit a piece of her lip onto the floor.
"The complainant was bleeding from her mouth and started to feel faint. She heard the defendant saying 'I'm sorry baby'."
The woman thought she might have passed out and the next thing she remembers is the ambulance arriving." Mr Pallister said there was no victim impact statement indicating the current position in terms of her injury or after effects but he added: "A piece of her lip was bitten off and spat out. There would be some scarring but without a victim personal statement it's impossible to say the level of scarring."
Elliott, of Derwent Crescent, Swalwell, Gateshead, was originally charged with wounding with intent but prosecutors accepted her guilty plea to the lesser charge of wounding. She was sentenced to 21 weeks suspended for 18 months with 150 hours unpaid work.
Joe Culley, defending, said Elliott has no convictions before or after the attack. He added: "It's clear this was a volatile relationship." He added that there were references about the good side to her character.
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