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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Andrew Bardsley

'Animal savage' bit off woman's nose in horrifying fight

A 'dangerous' mum bit a woman's nose clean off in an act of 'animal savagery'. Claire Bold viciously attacked her victim after the pair had become embroiled in a fight.

Both had inflicted minor injuries on each other, but raging Bold believed that the woman had taken her credit card and followed her to a friend's house. The fight resumed and 38-year-old Bold clamped her teeth onto the woman's nose before biting on it.

She bit the end of the woman's nose off, before spitting it out on the floor. The victim was in 'excruciating' pain and was left bleeding profusely.

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She has had operations including a skin graft, but has been left permanently disfigured. People stare at her in the street and she has been subjected to vile abuse, being called 'piggy', Manchester Crown Court heard.

Weeks after the appalling incident, Bold left another woman permanently disfigured, after hitting her to the face with a handheld mirror. Bold stormed out of court as the judge laid bare the facts of her shocking crimes.

"In the course of a fight you bit off the end of her nose, in a display of appalling, vicious, deliberate and calculated violence," Judge Timothy Smith said, describing the attack as an 'act of animal savagery'. She received a 10 year sentence in her absence, including six years in jail and an extra four years on licence after she is released.

Prosecuting, Julian Goode told how Bold and her victim had known each other for about two years. He said the pair had previously got on well and had smoked crack cocaine together.

But they started fighting each other on April 24 last year. The victim left the property in Eccles and went to a friend's house, but Bold followed her and the fight continued there.

"The incident culminated in the defendant biting off the end of her nose, spitting it out on the floor before making off," he said. Bold was arrested at her home later that day, having made efforts to 'cover her tracks' by having a shower and washing her clothes.

The victim described the pain as 'unbelievable', being like 'something she had never experienced before'. She has since undergone operations including a skin graft, but fears it could take 'years for her nose to look normal again'.

Her confidence has been 'shattered', and she has endured cruel taunts by people calling her 'piggy', the court heard. She has experienced suicidal thoughts and notices people staring at her in the street.

Bold was released on bail but went on to commit another horrendous attack against a second woman. She had been placed in accommodation in Bredbury, Stockport with another woman and the pair appeared to be 'getting on well'.

The woman went out to buy vodka and cider, on August 19 last year, and the pair began to chat. But Bold suddenly became aggressive, telling the woman: "Don't think you're better than me, because you're not better than me."

As Bold confronted her, she held a handheld mirror and warned her 'leave me alone or I'll hit you'. But Bold grabbed the mirror and repeatedly hit her with it, smashing the glass and causing wounds to her face.

There was 'blood everywhere', and Bold left the woman with shocking injuries telling her she was going to bed. She went out into the street to get help, and the police were called.

Bold was taken to hospital after concerns over her health were raised. There she assaulted two police officers, swinging her head at one and connecting with her lip, and kicking another to the chest.

Of the woman she hit with a mirror, Bold said: "She deserved everything she got." The victim said she was told by a doctor she was lucky not to lose an eye.

She has suffered permanent scarring to her face. "It is a permanent reminder of what I went through that day," she said.

Defending, Rebecca Filletti said Bold feels sorry for what happened and regrets her actions. She said the mum-of-three may have suffered from undiagnosed post natal depression following the birth of her youngest child, and she was suffering a 'mental health crisis' at the time.

Ms Filletti said Bold has since made a 'substantial shift' in her life and has made positive changes while on remand in prison. Judge Smith classified Bold as a 'dangerous' offender, that she poses a significant risk to the public of committing further specified offences.

She will serve two-thirds of her six year jail sentence in prison, before the Parole Board decide whether it is safe for her to be released. Bold, of Bridgewater Street, Eccles, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, unlawful wounding and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

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