Thug bit off man's nose after party at golf club

'COCKNEY' COMMENT PROVOKED 'BARBARIC' ATTACK THAT LEFT VICTIM DISFIGURED FOR LIFE

- By WESLEY HOLMES

Leasowe Golf Club

A MAN “took umbrage at being called a Cockney” at a golf club party and bit off another guest's nose.

Paul Babbington, 46, was “nine out of ten drunk” when he launched a “barbaric” attack on victim Simon Hoey, whom he had met at a Leasowe Golf Club social just hours earlier.

The incident occurred on the night of November 17 last year. Babbington, of Bennets Lane in Meols, had been invited to a party at the Wirral golf club, while Mr Hoey was attending as a club member.

At Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Peter Hussey said: “The pair had never met until that evening. The person who had invited the defendant introduced him to the victim, as is customary of meeting at this sort of event.

“Mr Hoey heard the defendant speak, recognised a London accent and commented about him having a Cockney accent. The defendant's reaction somewhat surprised him because he seemed to take umbrage at being called a Cockney. Mr Hoey decided to leave things as they were and they went about the rest of the evening”

However, as Mr Hoey waited for a taxi in the golf club foyer at the end of the party, he was suddenly attacked by Babbington. The attack was partially caught on CCTV.