A 41-year-old man who bit off a piece of a policewoman's ear in the German city of Cologne has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Additionally, he must pay the 26-year-old policewoman €30,000 ($34,045).
The suffering he caused was "hardly to be surpassed," the presiding judge Necmettin Gül at the Cologne Regional Court told the perpetrator on Friday. He said it was an "extremely serious crime."
The defendant was convicted of grievous bodily harm and assaulting law enforcement officers.
The piece of the ear was initially reattached to the policewoman, but it was rejected by her body. She will have to deal with the consequences of the incident for the rest of her life, said the presiding judge.
She may never be able to practise her profession again because she is severely traumatized. "It must be said that police officers are not fair game for people who cannot control their aggression," the judge said.
The defendant had confessed to the crime and apologized but at the same time claimed that he could not remember anything because he was under the influence of cocaine.
The policewoman, along with a colleague, had wanted to check him after he had attacked two passers-by without reason and scratched their faces with a key. However, he immediately attacked the two officers as well. It was only after they called for backup that he could be overpowered.
"You committed this act consciously," Gül said to the defendant. "This didn't just happen by chance. You traumatized several people."
His confession would be considered as a mitigating factor, but the evidence was also overwhelming. Moreover, his admission was accompanied by "more than a small dose of self-pity," the judge said.
If he doesn't turn things around now, it will most likely end badly for him, the judge warned the man.
