A man bit his partner after attacking her teenage son in behaviour described by a judge as “grotesque”.

Philip Edward Bloomer, 48, admitted unlawfully wounding his now ex-partner Claire Woods and assaulting her 19-year-old son, Samuel, by beating him during an incident at an address in Talkin, near Brampton, on March 4.

Bloomer hit the teenager “two to three times” in the head with a clenched fist, causing bruising and swelling. His mother put her hand over Bloomer’s face.

Prosecutor Nicholas Flanagan said: “The defendant bit down on her right index finger. Almost immediately she felt pain.”

There was “considerable bleeding” from a “ragged open wound”. She needed a tetanus shot and antibiotics but the wound couldn’t be stitched due to the risk of infection. Ms Woods was off work for a week.

“Doctors informed her had it been her little finger, the force would have severed it,” said Mr Flanagan.

Bloomer, a highly regarded transport manager with no previous convictions, had suffered a “momentary loss of self-control” for which he had apologised, said Tariq Khawam, mitigating.

“It was never his intention to harm Ms Woods,” he added.

Mr Justice William Davis suspended a 12-month prison sentence for two years. He ordered Bloomer, of Hayton, Brampton, to complete 80 hours’ unpaid work, and to pay Miss Woods £500 compensation.