A 31-year-old man assaulted a taxi driver by biting him on his nose, a court was told.
Richard Holliday, of Joshua Street, Todmorden, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and breach of bail.
Bradford Crown Court heard the defendant had originally been due to be sentenced on July 16 but failed to turn up to court because his son’s girlfriend had just given birth.
The court heard that the offence had taken place on August 12, 2012, and involved the defendant and another woman, who was sentenced at the July 16 hearing.
The pair had travelled in a taxi before a confrontation was had with the driver about a mobile phone that he was keeping as a deposit due to them not having enough money on them to pay. The driver took Holliday to a supermarket where he was collecting the rest of the fare.
While the car was waiting for Holliday the court heard that the co-defendant - whose phone it was - asked for it back, to which the taxi driver refused because the full amount had still not been paid.
Holliday then returned to the car and asked for the mobile phone back. “The defendant became angry,” said prosecutor Bronia Hartley. “The complainant became concerned and rang the police. It was at that point the defendant bit the complainant’s nose.”
The court was then told that the co-defendant took off with the taxi driver’s own mobile phone as well as the one she’d originally left with him.
DNA found on the complainant’s nose belonged to the defendant, the court was told, which the defendant initially said was down to a face to face argument taking place.
The court heard Holliday had 32 previous convictions for 121 offences including matters of violence.
Judge Colin Burn deferred sentence on Holliday until February 14, giving that the defendant works with the Probation Service and carries out unpaid work.
