A MAN who bit his partner's finger - despite her having no digits on her other hand - has avoided jail.

Stephen Barry Reynolds, 43, of Lime Tree Avenue, New Earswick, gripped Tracey Hewitt's index finger between his teeth, forcing her to bite him on the cheek in an attempt to make him let go, York Crown Court heard.

Miss Hewitt suffered a gash to her finger and it swelled up to one-and-a-half times its normal size, although there was no permanent damage.

Yesterday, Reynolds was sentenced after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and a charge of causing criminal damage.

The court was told that on August 31 last year, Reynolds had been out drinking. He returned home and he and Miss Hewitt, who he has been with for 11 years, began arguing.

He told her to leave, so she took their two children to a friend's house. He turned up several times during that evening and was eventually let in by Miss Hewitt's friend at 11.15pm while Miss Hewitt was upstairs.

The pair began arguing again and, during the confrontation, Reynolds bit the index finger of her left hand. Despite pulling as hard as she could, she was unable to get her finger out of his mouth and even after she bit his cheek, he did not release his grip. She then pulled her finger away again and got it out from between his teeth.

Reynolds then left and Miss Hewitt was treated at York Hospital for a wound on her finger. Prosecuting, Howard Shaw said the offence was particularly serious as Miss Hewitt has no fingers on her right hand due to a birth defect. As such, she is entirely dependent on her left hand and could have had difficulty with everyday tasks if there had been any permanent damage.

The charge of criminal damage related to an incident on September 9 when Reynolds was on bail and not supposed to go within 50 yards of their home. But at around 8pm he did so, and damaged a window, before cycling off.

The court was told Reynolds had two previous convictions for assault, one in 1991 for assaulting a former girlfriend and the other in 1999 when the victim was again Miss Hewitt.

Mitigating, David Bradshaw said Reynolds' attitude had changed after spending the last 86 days in prison awaiting sentence and that Miss Hewitt had forgiven him.

Judge Stephen Ashurst told Reynolds that when drunk he was capable of behaving violently but thought he had changed his attitude after spending time in jail.

He sentenced Reynolds to seven months in prison for the assault and two months consecutive for the criminal damage, suspended for two years. Reynolds was also given a two-year supervision order with the probation service which would address his alcohol abuse and he must also take part in a domestic abuse scheme.