A MAN was left with a flap on his cheek after he was bitten by a stranger in a pub in Dalton.

David Semple, 31, has been jailed for 12 months after admitting attacking David Jessamai in the Newton Arms on November 24 2018.

Preston Crown Court heard Semple had been involved in a number of arguments in the pub and had already been asked to leave by the landlady.

But he returned inside and grabbed Mr Jessamine by the shirt and dragged him to the ground.

Witnesses heard Mr Jessamine shouting, “are you biting me?” as Semple attacked him on the floor.

When he got up he had injuries to his face which included a cut to his eye and swelling to his cheek.

In a victim statement, Mr Jessamine said: “I am struggling with how I am going to cope with it. I have completely lost my confidence. I am very wary of people I don’t know, or don’t know well.”

He said he no longer uses his season ticket and rarely goes out socially.

He added: “When I speak to people I feel (the scar) is the only thing they are looking at.”

As a result of the attack Mr Jessamine was off work for six weeks and no longer drives long distances. His eyesight did not return to normal for three weeks after the attack.

The court heard since the attack, Semple, of Napier Street, Dalton, has become a father and now spends his time with his partner.

He told probation officers he was disgusted by his behaviour and was sorry for the ongoing effect on his victim.

He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge Richard Gioserano said: “I would be failing in my public duty to make offences like this subject to suspended sentences. I accept what is said that there may be a chance of rehabilitation and you have strong personal mitigation .

“I am not unsympathetic to your partner and her current position but this is a situation you have brought upon her.

“Appropriate punishment for an offence of biting in a public house to a man’s face causing him serious psychological harm - I’m afraid that sentence has to be served.”