Marcin Kluska (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 2 minutes ago
A pub chef who bit his housemate’s ear with such force that part of it became detached has been jailed for five years and six months.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that just after 1am on July 23, 2025, police were called to an address in the Rhymney area of Cardiff after the ambulance service reported a man lying outside on the grass, covered in blood and unconscious.
The argument
The victim told the court he had been drinking alcohol at home with a friend when his housemate, 47-year-old Marcin Kluska, joined them. He said he believed Kluska was trying to antagonise him by playing the guitar and plugging in a speaker after being told to keep the noise down, which led to what he described as “quite a heated argument”.
Recorder Victoria Hillier told Kluska: “The last thing he remembers is that you were arguing and he then woke up in hospital the next day.”
The attack
The court heard Kluska bit the victim’s ear with enough force to detach part of the cartilage and struck him over the head with his guitar. He also accepted pressing the complainant’s eyes.
Paramedics transferred the victim to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, where he was placed in the intensive care unit. He was found to be missing 2cm of his left ear, had a wound to the back of his head, swelling to both eye sockets, and bruises and grazes across other parts of his body.
Covering his tracks
When officers arrived at the property, Kluska was standing in a towel having taken a shower while the victim lay outside the flat on the grass. The shower head had been moved outside the shower cubicle and the hallway carpet was soaked with water and soap.
Recorder Hillier said: “Given the amount of water and soap, the lack of injury to yourself and the amount of blood at the scene and on the carpet where the water and soap was, I find this was an attempt to clean yourself and part of the scene to cover evidence. I’m sure it was a deliberate action in the immediate aftermath.”
Self-defence claim rejected
During a police interview, Kluska claimed he had been attacked with a knife and was acting in self-defence. However, examinations and photographs taken at the police station showed that the worst of his injuries was “some reddening”, which did not support the level of force he used.
Sentencing
Kluska, of Tudor Street in Cardiff, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He denied the offence but a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on January 26.
The court heard he had two previous convictions – a battery offence dating back to 2013 and a later conviction for criminal damage. Both parties were said to be heavily intoxicated at the time of the attack.
Recorder Hillier said during sentencing: “This is clearly a grave injury reflected by the period on the intensive care unit. It has caused an irreversible loss of part of the complainant’s ear.”
She noted his most significant mitigation was that at 47 he had only two previous convictions for much less serious offences.
Kluska was sentenced to five years and six months in prison. A restraining order was also imposed, preventing him from contacting the victim for five years.
