Shane Groves was jailed for two years for the homophobic attack (Image: Nottinghamshire Police)
A man has been jailed for biting his brother’s nose off when he tried to put a stop to his violent, homophobic behaviour at a birthday party.
Shane Groves from Sutton-in-Ashfield was celebrating his 27th birthday at a private members’ club on 5 April 2019 when he began subjecting a man to homophobic verbal abuse.
When his brother challenged him on his behaviour, he responded by throwing a chair at the victim and spitting in his sibling’s face before friends intervened and split the pair up. As they continued a verbal fight over the bar Groves suddenly stormed over and headbutted him.
Several partygoers tried to separate them but Groves “latched onto” his brother’s nose with his teeth and bit off the tip. The appendage ended up on the club floor, police said.
Despite attempts by medics at the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, the nose could not be reattached and the victim is now awaiting cosmetic surgery to try and repair the damage.
Groves was sentenced to two years and one month in prison at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday (5 November), having pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm at his own birthday party.
“This was a victimless prosecution which took a lot of work around CCTV evidence, photos, medical evidence and witness statements to secure the conviction,” said police constable Scott Kerr, who led the investigation.
“Groves’ actions left a man with life changing injuries and caused him great psychological distress purely for standing up to him and trying to calmly put a stop to his homophobic behaviour.
“It was a nasty unprovoked attack, which we won’t tolerate in Nottinghamshire, so we wanted to make sure we had done everything in our power to see justice served. I’m pleased this has now resulted in a Groves being locked up for his crimes.”