Company Director Who Tried To Help Friend In A Street Attack Gets Part Of His Ear Chopped Off (Photos)

A company director had part of his ear bitten off in a cowardly attack by a group of men as he made his way home from a night out with his fiancee. Mike O’Connor, 30, had just been for a meal with Laura Dolan when a friend was set upon in the street.

The gang of four or five men were said to be attacking Martin McColl. They knocked the 25-year-old unconscious.

Mike went to his aid, but ‘felt a rip’ as the top of his left ear was bitten off in the struggle which ensued.

A piece of his ear was retrieved by police at the scene in Bridge Street, Morpeth, Northumberland, and is being tested for the DNA of his attacker. But plastic surgeons were unable to re-attach it, and Mike faces months of painful skin grafts to repair the damage.

Photos taken in the immediate aftermath show the bloody injuries to Mike’s face and head, with 40 one centimetre stitches in his ear wound. He underwent reconstructive surgery at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary following the attack, which happened in the early hours of Sunday.