A THUG who bit off part of a doorman's lip during a gang attack on him and his colleagues had his sentence reduced by top judges.
Sean Pyatt, 22, bit through Meshach Small's lower lip as the doorman tried to restrain him during a frenzied brawl at Nottingham's Gatecrasher nightspot, London's Appeal Court heard yesterday.
Minutes earlier, Mr Small and a colleague had tried to eject Pyatt from the club following rising tensions between Pyatt and another club-goer, said Judge Neil Ford QC.
Pyatt and five others swarmed around Mr Small and a colleague, hurling punches and kicks in a vicious pack attack.
"Pyatt punched Mr Small and put him in a headlock," the judge told London's Appeal Court.
The doorman managed to break free but, at this point, Pyatt bit into his lower lip, said the judge, adding: "His teeth passed through the entire thickness of his lip and severed part of it."
The attackers finally fled – but were pursued and caught by the door staff, the court heard.
Surgeons later tried in vain to restore the missing section of Mr Small's lip.
Judge Ford said the doorman had been "badly affected" by the attack and was unable to return to his job.
Pyatt, of Stamford Street, Ilkeston, was jailed for six years at Nottingham Crown Court in October last year after admitting affray and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He challenged his jail term, saying it was excessive.
Judge Ford, sitting with Lord Justice Elias and Sir David Maddison, noted that biting effectively amounted to "using a weapon" and that the attack came close to the "gratuitous degradation of [the] victim".
But he concluded that six years was "manifestly excessive" in light of Pyatt's age and other factors. His sentence was cut to four and a half years.
