Inmate's ear bitten off by man he shared prison cell with, Cork court told

A man’s ear was bitten off by a prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell at Cork Prison in a completely unprovoked attack, a court has heard.

The 45-year-old victim of this serious assault under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act had no previous convictions of any kind and was only remanded in custody for a period of days before his ear was bitten off, Detective Sergeant Kieran O’Sullivan said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Detective Sergeant O’Sullivan originally arrested Roman Becvár and charged him with assault causing serious harm to another prisoner. The 28-year-old accused has since pleaded guilty to the crime and will be sentenced on November 14. 

Judge Helen Boyle heard the facts of the case at the sentencing hearing but said she wanted to consider reports and the evidence before sentencing Roman Becvár.

“The injured party to this day does not understand why the assault happened – he got on well with the defendant,” Det Sgt O’Sullivan said.

“The injured party, who is 45, was sharing a cell with the accused for approximately one week. There were no issues between them. The injured party did not remember the incident happening.

“He was lying on the bunk bed, about to go asleep. He remembered Mr Becvár asking him for tobacco. He did not have any. The next thing he remembers is Mr Becvár banging on the inside door of the cell.

“Prison staff entered. They discovered the injured party lying on the cell floor in a pool of blood.

“Roman Becvár was standing against the back wall of the cell with his hands up, blood on his hands and clothing.

“Fortunately, there was a nurse in the area who was on the scene almost immediately. 

"As this nurse attended to the injured party he located the injured party’s ear in the blood on the floor."

The injured inmate was taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment and remained there for a number of days.

“Roman Becvár had cuts to his knuckles. CCTV was harvested. No other people entered the cell, which was locked at the time. He claimed he was acting in self-defence and that the injured party attacked him. He denied biting off his ear (when first interviewed).

“The injured party had no injuries consistent with carrying out an assault, but Mr Becvár did,” the detective said.

While the severed ear was brought to hospital when the injured party was taken there by ambulance, it was not possible to reattach it and he has opted not to have a prosthesis. 

The defendant was serving a three-year sentence at the time for carrying out an aggravated burglary, with the last year suspended on condition that he would leave the country within seven days of his release from prison. 

However, he has been remanded in custody for this serious assault on April 9, 2023.

Judge Boyle was told that once the accused was put on anti-psychotic medication, there were no further problems. Ms O’Connell said the defendant had a “diagnosis of psychosis, possibly up to schizophrenia.”