'Cannibalistic attacker' jailed

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A cannibalistic attacker whose victim killed himself three months after part of his face was bitten off has been jailed for seven years.

Prison officer George Owens's family described the sentence as a "travesty".

He was savagely attacked by Neil Hawkins who bit off part of his left ear and nose and beat him as he was walking home from Whitehead Golf Club.

He told his victim: "I'm going to eat you", while banging his head on the ground during the May 2006 attack.

Mr Owens, 48, spotted Hawkins "taking swipes" at passing cars and after telling him to "wise up", Hawkins attacked him.

He kicked and punched Mr Owens's wife Susan and then tried to strangle him.

The judge said himself, he is a danger to the public and I think deserved to get a lot longer Victim's brother-in-law

On Monday, Belfast Crown Court heard the "severe disfigurement" suffered by Mr Owens had left him "deeply distressed" and at the end of August last year, he took his own life.

A report from a consultant psychiatrist said "it is highly likely that (the attack) contributed significantly to Mr Owens's suicide".

Hawkins was out on bail at the time for an incident in which police were forced to shoot at him as he wielded a samurai sword at residents of the Rathcoole housing estate in June 2004.

Actual bodily harm

Mr Justice Hart revealed that Hawkins had other convictions for violence.

Hawkins, from the Islandmagee Road in Islandmagee, had originally been charged with trying to murder Mr Owens.

However, that was left on the books after he pleaded guilty to wounding him with intent and also to inflicting actual bodily harm on his wife.

She had jumped on Hawkins's back after she saw him attacking her husband as she turned up to collect him.

The couple managed to get into their own car but Hawkins got into the back seat, reaching forward to strangle Mr Owens before a passer-by and a car load of young men eventually dragged him off and held him until police arrived.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Owens's brother-in-law said: "The judge said himself, he is a danger to the public and I think deserved to get a lot longer."