Landlord loses part of his ear in horror attack

From the Wiltshire Times, first published Friday 6th Jan 2006.

A PUB landlord lost part of his ear when it was bitten off during a fight with a drunken customer on Boxing Day.

Richard Grieshaber, landlord of the Parson's Nose in Melksham, was bitten on his right ear as he grappled with a customer on the pavement outside the High Street pub.

The fight broke out when Mr Grieshaber ejected the man from the pub shortly after 9pm. The two men grappled on the floor before the offender bit part of Mr Grieshaber's ear and spat it out into the road.

The ear was later found in the offender's pocket and given to paramedics, but by the time Mr Grieshaber arrived at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, doctors decided they could not sew it back on because of the high risk of infection.

Mr Grieshaber, 39, said he had never experienced an attack like it during his 10 years in the pub trade.

He said: "You can still see the teeth marks now. I suppose I'm lucky that I didn't lose my hearing but I'm still scarred for life. I am shocked that something like this could happen.

"It took over an hour for the police to find the part of my ear. In the meantime, I was sat in the back of the ambulance and had to take some painkillers. When the police did find it the ear was put on ice, but by the time we got to the RUH the doctors decided it would only make the infection worse to try and sew it back on again.

"I got back to the pub around 1pm and my wife was completely shocked by what she saw. She's expecting a baby in four weeks' time and she does not need the extra stress and strain."

Mr Grieshaber missed four days of work following the incident, during which time he made daily visits to Melksham Hospital for the wound to be re-dressed. He was back at work on New Year's Eve.

Eleven days after the scuffle, Mr Grieshaber is now trying to return to normality and get on with running his pub. He said: "It's hard to explain how I feel.

"The incident happened and you just have to deal with it and move on. You can't let these people beat you.

"The customers have been great ever since the incident. One punter even told me I could give Evander Holyfield a run for his money. After watching him on Strictly Come Dancing at Christmas I realised we had more in common than just having part of our ear missing neither of us can dance."

Police have arrested a 33-year-old man on suspicion of GBH and possession of a controlled drug.

He has been released on police bail until next month pending further inquiries.

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