A violent offender who bit a police officer in a “bizarre” incident during a fight in a pub has been spared jail.

At Amersham Law Courts yesterday (Tuesday), David Stanley, of Radclive Road in Buckingham, was given a one-year prison sentence suspended for two years.

Stanley, aged 28, had pleaded guilty to charges of assault by beating of a police officer and actual bodily harm following what the judge described a “bizarre” incident at a Buckingham pub.

The court heard how on October 29, 2019, Stanley, who was drunk was causing a scene in the pub, which led to the police being called.

When two officers arrived and attempted to arrest Stanley, he became violent, with judge Catherine Tulk describing the resulting scene as a “melee”.

CCTV seen by the court showed that during the “lengthy” struggle Stanley bit PC Adam Myers as well as breaking one of his fingers, which required surgery and metal wiring to repair.

During the struggle Stanley also caused less severe injuries to a second police officer, who needed hospital treatment for pain in her thumb, wrist and arm.

Sentencing, Judge Tulk said: “There’s quite a lengthy violent struggle. But what is more serious is that you bit him, that’s an indication of how wildly out of control you were.

“Biting is a very, very bizarre way to behave.”

Defence barrister Amy Hazlewood told the court that her client had been struggling with mental health issues and PTSD after he was involved in a “car accident” in which a cyclist had died a few years earlier.

The judge corrected Ms Hazlewood, stating that the incident was not an accident and that Stanley had been convicted of causing death by careless driving.

She said: “Everyone’s got to stop talking about the time when that cyclist was killed as an accident.

“It was not an accident, it was something you caused by your own driving.”

Issuing Stanley with a suspended sentence, judge Tulk said: “At 28 years old, this is the time you need to start taking a grip.

“I am hopeful that this is now the time for you to make real changes. It’s effectively going to be the last opportunity to do so.”