Boy's ear bitten off in racist attack: David Holroyd jailed

A man who hurled "vile racist abuse" at a 17-year-old boy before biting off part of his ear has been jailed for nine years and nine months.

David Holroyd, 34, was heavily drunk when he attacked the teenager in Halifax town centre on the night of 20 November.

Bradford Crown Court heard the boy had been left permanently disfigured after the unprovoked attack.

Holroyd admitted wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm.

Prosecutor Alexander Menary said the stonemason, of Catherine Street, Elland, West Yorkshire, bit off the outer part of the boy's left ear and spat it out while he was on the ground.

The court heard the piece of ear was recovered from the street but could not be reattached.

In a statement, the teenager described feeling anxious and paranoid when he was out in public.

He said: "I just don't understand why he would bite my ear off."

Judge Jonathan Rose said the youngster had been going about his business when the 34-year-old subjected him to "deeply unpleasant and vile racist abuse".

"You started with verbal abuse and then when he stood up to you, you unleashed unpleasant violence upon him with punches," he said.

"You put him to the ground and then when you had him on the ground you bit his ear."

Holroyd's barrister Stephen Wood said: "He's sorry for what he did to a 17-year-old boy."

But Judge Rose described him as a "dangerous offender".

The court heard he had been given a suspended prison sentence of 10 months for another attack in 2018 in which he tried to bite a man's ear.

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