Community service for nightclub biter

Thursday 01 November 2018

A nightclubber who “sunk his teeth” into a duty manager’s arm whilst he was being escorted out of Havana has been sentenced to community service.

Adelino Vieira Rodrigues (39) appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday where he admitted to committing a grave and criminal assault against the nightclub staff member.

The court heard that Rodrigues was “screaming and shouting that he was going to kill the doorman” as he was being removed from the premises so the registered manager on duty, who had been following the events on CCTV, went to assist.

Rodrigues was described as “seriously kicking off” while continuing to threaten the club staff. The duty manager put his arm around Rodrigues to restrain him, at which point the nightclubber was said to have “sunk his teeth into [the manager’s] arm in a biting motion.” 

Rodrigues then reportedly “locked onto [the manager’s] arm with his teeth” and “remained in place for a number of minutes”. The bite left a mark of about two inches wide. 

Pictured: The case was heard in the Magistrate's Court and resulted in Rodrigues being sentenced to community service.

Defence Advocate Lorraine McClure said: “This was a very unfortunate matter which escalated very quickly… He had an arm locked around his neck, [which] would have been quite frightening for him.” 

Advocate McClure went on to say that her client apologised for the incident and emphasised that it was out of character as he is an “extremely hard working man” and a “father of two children”.

Relief Magistrate Sarah Fitz, having heard both sides of the case, decided to impose a sentence of 100 hours community service and a compensation order to the victim of £500. 

Addressing Rodrigues, the Relief Magistrate said that she was taking into consideration that he had “never been in this kind of trouble” previously, but that she was concerned about the threatening behaviour he displayed towards to the club staff who she said already have a “difficult job."

She added: “The courts do see a bite as an unpleasant injury” before handing down her sentence of community service and a compensation order.