Thug, 28, is jailed for eight years after a vulnerable man’s ear was bitten off in a brutal attack

A drugged-up thug has been jailed after savagely battering a vulnerable man who was left slumped in a pool of his own blood and with a chunk of his ear bitten off.

Bradley Topp, 28, launched a frenzied assault on the unnamed 40-year-old victim inside his own flat on Barford Court, Gateshead, in February.

Doctors were forced to comatose the critical man, who spent four days fighting for his life in intensive care before finally waking up.

But the brutal onslaught has left him physically and psychologically scarred – he still bares a disfigured ear and endures sleepless nights.

At Newcastle Crown Court on Monday, Topp was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm.

The court heard that Topp and a group of friends were invited into the victim’s flat on February 11 this year.

After draining alcohol and taking drugs, the yob suddenly flew into a violent rage and started raining down blows on his host.

Topp, of no fixed abode, was filmed by his friends punching the man relentlessly in the face, whose ear was already shown to be partially ripped off. 

The 40-year-old victim had a chunk of his ear bitten off in the savage attack at his own flat in Barford Court, Gateshead. He will be scarred for life

Photographs taken from the scene of the assault show the blood-soaked duvet and cushions inside the victim’s flat. 

The brute left the man in a pool of his own blood inside the flat before the victim’s partner discovered him and contacted police, who scrambled an ambulance. 

Topp was arrested hours after the savage attack and later charged with wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm. 

A second man, aged 33, had also been arrested in connection with the attack but died before charges were brought in the case. 

It could not be proved which of the men was responsible for biting off the victim’s ear. 

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Topp’s victim said he had been unable to sleep as he ‘could have died’ in the brutal beating.

The 40-year-old said: ‘This has affected me, when I go out I am watching as I don’t want to be assaulted again. 

Photographs taken from the scene of Topp’s assault show the blood-soaked duvet and cushions inside the victim’s flat

‘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.

‘The injuries I suffered left me in intensive care for four days on a ventilator and I realise I could have died if my partner had not have kicked the door in.’

Detective Constable Emma Beadle, of Northumbria Police’s Central CID, led the investigation and today branded Topp a ‘dangerous offender’.

She 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.

‘The physical injuries have since healed but this would be a traumatising incident for anyone and I know it has deeply affected him.

‘I hope he can take comfort from knowing that this violent and dangerous offender is behind bars and cannot do him any further harm.

‘The streets are safer with Bradley Topp in prison and I hope this sentence reassures the public about our commitment to putting violent offenders before the courts.’