Witney man who 'nibbled' girlfriend's ear walks from court

The judge dealing with Steven Clapton’s case rejected the suggestion that he had nibbled and not bitten the woman’s ear – and described there being a ‘Jekyll and Hyde side’ to the 48-year-old’s ‘character’.

Oxford Crown Court heard he pinned her to the bed by her throat, struck her a number of times and called her unpleasant names.

Recorder John Bate-Williams told the defendant: “I do not – can’t – accept that, in the circumstances which have been described, I cannot accept the suggestion you made to the probation officer who prepared your report that this was something similar to a nibble.”

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Earlier, the court heard that Clapton had arranged to meet his partner in the Eagle Tavern pub in Witney on September 9 last year, where he confronted her about alleged infidelity.

His barrister, George Joseph, said that he had got the idea to meet in the pub after undergoing a probation service course aimed at domestic abusers when he was sentenced for assaulting his then wife.

The course suggested that, if there was likely to be an argument with someone, it was better doing so in public where there would be witnesses.

The woman went back home, where she was said to have taken a number of tablets and sent Clapton a photograph.

Having planned to spend the night elsewhere, the defendant returned to the property and smashed his way in – damaging the door latch in the process.

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Prosecutor Matthew Knight said the man got into bed and asked the woman ‘when are you going to f*** off’ before there was a tussle over the bedcovers.

She made it clear she was not going to leave, the court heard.

His verbal abuse continued. He pinned the woman to the bed with one hand around her neck. Although her airway was not restricted, his victim said the man’s grip was ‘tightening’.

He struck her a number of times and grabbed her phone then tried to stop her from retrieving it. Told that she would call the police, Clapton was said to have replied: “I’ve heard that old chestnut before.”

The man went on to ‘bite’ her ear. Referencing the mid-bout bite that got the heavyweight boxer briefly banned from the sport, Mr Knight said: “Clearly not a Mike Tyson style [bite], because there is no cut to the ear as a result of a bite or ‘nibble’ to the ear of [the victim] by Mr Clapton.”

The defendant got dressed then left the house, the court heard.

In a victim personal statement read to the court by the prosecutor, the complainant said: “Anxiety is now a major factor in my life as a consequence of what happened.”

Clapton, of Weavers Close, Witney, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to common assault, having initially faced more serious allegations of intentional strangulation.

He had one previous conviction and, in mitigation, was said to run his own electrical firm and was supported by a number of character references.

Giving him four months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, Recorder Bate-Williams said Clapton’s discovery of his then partner’s infidelity was ‘absolutely no excuse to demonstrate your nasty, violent side’.

He said: “You clearly never learnt the playground rule which most of us learnt at primary school: you never, ever, ever hit a woman.”

The judge added: “This was the third violent loss of control involving assaults on women in your household and that is, in my judgment, extremely worrying.”

As part of the suspended sentence, he must complete unpaid work, undergo the probation service’s building better relationships programme again and pay £425 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.