A THUG sank his teeth into the ear of a police officer who had gone to his house to deal with a domestic incident, a court heard.

Moments before, Jason Lowdell told his victim, PC Thomas Daveney, as he pinned him down: "I'm going to bite your ear off."

PC Daveney and other officers went to Lowdell's house in Pretoria Road, Gillingham, on May 12, last year.

Andrew Rodger, prosecuting, said the door was opened by a distressed woman whose nose was bleeding. The 32-year old became aggressive when the officers decided to arrest him.

The police used their extendable batons and CS gas as they tried to detain Lowdell. He struggled and headbutted PC Karl Charnick in the face, making his nose bleed, said the prosecutor.

PC Daveney told Maidstone Crown Court how he was struggling with Lowdell and was pinned down on a sofa. It was then that the threat was made. "I was trying to get Mr Lowdell off me. He then bit my left ear."

PC Charnick came into the room, he said, and struck Lowdell with his baton.

Lowdell admitted he had been drinking and smoking cannabis. He also denied telling PC Daveney he was going to bite his ear off.

"Everything was frenzied and manic. I bit him because I was getting hurt and I was in pain," he said.

Lowdell pleaded not guilty to assaulting PC Daveney, causing him actual bodily harm, but was convicted. He was acquitted of assaulting PC Charnick.

Judge Jeremy Carey adjourned sentencing until May 6.