A teenager who bit off his victim's ear during a fight - having previously threatened to stab him - has been jailed for five and a half years.

Angered at a relationship his victim had with his cousin, 19-year-old Zane Mahmood Khan threatened the youngster over the phone and told him he wanted to meet for a fight.

Khan met the other youth and headbutted him before forcing him to the ground - and when on top he bit off a chunk of his victim's ear.

Khan, of Dashwood Avenue, High Wycombe, was jailed at Amersham Crown Court yesterday after jurors had convicted him of wounding with intent on October 20.

A group of Khan's friends turned up to "egg him on" during the fight, the court heard, but the defendant was the only person involved in the violence.

The victim's brother had even left a job interview to come to the scene of the fight to intervene after worried family members had contacted him, the court heard.

Judge Karen Holt said there was a "significant degree of pre-meditation", although she accepted the threats Khan made over the phone to stab his victim were simply "bravado".

The court heard Khan's victim has permanent scarring to his ear and also to his neck, where skin grafts were taken from for surgery.

In a letter to the judge read to the court by his lawyer, Adam Wolstenholme, Khan said: "I am sincerely sorry for the actions which resulted in me being imprisoned.

"I can't explain enough how sorry I am for my actions. I'm very remorseful for what I have done."

But Judge Holt told Khan when passing sentence: "You had taken it upon yourself to target this man because of a friendship with your cousin some eight months earlier.

"You told him he would be stabbed if he didn't agree to meet up. Quite understandably, he was terrified.

"The victim was instructed to meet you. When he met you, he was greeted by not only you, but a group of young men. Of that group, you were the person intent on violence.

"He was, in effect, given no option and told he would have to have a fight. I'm entirely satisfied it was something he did not want to do. He was extremely frightened.

"Not surprisingly, within moments you got the better of him. When you were on top of him, when you were under no threat, you gratuitously bit him on the ear with sufficient force it actually bit part of his ear off."

Judge Holt said the five and a half year sentence she handed down was the shortest possible she could give in the circumstances.