APPEAL Court judges have slashed the "manifestly excessive" jail term of a man who bit his ex-girlfriend's arm during a fracas.

Alan Peter Stead, 32, of Church Lane, Selby, pleaded guilty at York Crown Court to common assault and on June 23 was jailed for five months.

But judges at London's Court of Appeal have reduced it to three months - which means he will be released shortly, his counsel, Geraldine Kelly, said after the case.

Stead began arguing with Simon Marshall who was walking with his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Wilson, in Selby in June last year, said Judge Peter Beaumont.

The row escalated into a fight involving a group of others, and Miss Wilson was bitten by Stead on the arm after throwing herself on top of Mr Marshall in an attempt to protect him.

As a result, she had to be given an anti-tetanus injection, said Judge Beaumont, who was sitting with Lord Justice Clarke and Mr Justice Astill.

He said Stead told police he had been trying to carry Miss Wilson away from the fighting, which initially involved about 15 other men, to protect her.

Judge Beaumont said Stead, who has previous convictions for violence, bit her to stop her going back, but accepted he had gone too far. The judge said Stead's jail term was too long, given the unusual facts of the case, and he had not been given enough credit for his guilty plea. Given the limited basis of Stead's guilty plea, the judge said the incident was "not the worst case of common assault".

Updated: 12:41 Friday, August 01, 2003