A WOMAN from Ellesmere Port has been jailed for biting a pub landlord.

Laura Thurston, 31, had got into a row with a man at The Olde Red Lion in Little Sutton at around 11.20pm on September 14.

Chester Magistrates Court heard on Thursday (October 31) that pub manager Andrew Faddon had spotted what was happening and went over to speak to the pair.

He was said to have put his arm across Thurston’s shoulder from behind, prompting her to 'instinctively' sink her teeth into his forearm through the fabric of his shirt.

Rob Youds, prosecuting, said Mr Faddon had to grab her by the ponytail to pull her off him and was left with bruising and a bite mark.

Thurston was arrested and made no comment in her police interview, although she later pleaded guilty to assault at her first court appearance.

It emerged she has six previous convictions for 15 offences, three of which were for assault.

The most recent was an offence of causing actual bodily harm (ABH) for which she received 21 months in custody following a Chester Crown Court hearing in February 2018.

Scott McCrimmon, defending, accepted it was an “unpleasant incident” but stressed his client was not aware the man who grabbed her was the landlord.

It was said that the man she was arguing with had tried to punch her, and she thought the person who reached around to restrain her was a friend of her assailant.

“It was an instinctive act rather than planned,” Mr McCrimmon said. “She expressed immediate remorse too because as she goes to leave she apologises to the landlady of the pub; she mouths the word ‘sorry’.”

The solicitor also told the court that Thurston had endured a “difficult past” that included domestic violence and childhood trauma. She had also been diagnosed with behavioural disorder ADHD.

“She accepts that she sees red when she’s put in these difficult situations,” Mr McCrimmon added.

Magistrates told her the offence was so serious that it had passed the custody threshold and imprisonment could not be suspended due to her criminal record.

Thurston, of Chester Road, Ellesmere Port, was jailed for six weeks and will be subject to 12 months of post-sentence supervision upon her release.

She was also ordered to pay Mr Faddon £150 in compensation and was banned from The Olde Red Lion pub for two years under the terms of a court-imposed exclusion order.