A ‘violent and dangerous’ thug has been jailed after a vulnerable man had part of his ear bitten off during a brutal attack in his own home. Bradley Topp, 28, and two friends had been invited to the flat in Gateshead by their 40-year-old victim on 10 February.
The group had been drinking and taking drugs into the early hours of the following morning when the guests turned on their host. Topp was filmed pummelling the helpless man, who by that stage had already had a chunk of his ear ripped off, and laying into his bloodied face with numerous punches. The victim was later found slumped inside the property by his partner after Topp and his friends left him for dead. He was placed into an induced coma and spent four days in intensive care before finally waking up.
Topp, of no fixed address, was arrested hours after the attack and later admitted wounding with intent. In a victim impact statement read out in court, the victim said he had been unable to sleep as he ‘could have died’. He added: ‘This has affected me, when I go out I am watching as I don’t want to be assaulted again. I have not been able to sleep. I was being friendly letting people stay in the flat and they have repaid me by attacking me.’
Detective Constable Emma Beadle, of Northumbria Police’s Central CID, said: ‘I am delighted with the lengthy custodial sentence handed to Bradley Topp and I know the victim in this case is too. This was a sustained attack on a man inside his own home and when it had come to an end, Topp left his victim there to die. Thankfully the victim has been able to make a full recovery but he has been left scarred for life with part of his ear missing.’
A second man, aged 33, had also been arrested in connection with the attack but died before charges were brought. It could not be proved which attacker was responsible for biting off the victim’s ear.
