Father Jailed for Biting Son’s Nose in Brutal Family Attack

A man who beat and bit his son’s face after a family meal has been jailed for 28 months. Anthony O’Connell repeatedly punched his son before sinking his teeth into his nose and then hitting him with his walking stick. 😠

Swansea Crown Court heard that in May last year, O’Connell went to his son’s home in Llansamlet for a meal, providing and cooking steaks. The son was consuming alcohol during the get-together but O’Connell was not.

Matt Murphy, prosecuting, told the court that O’Connell later went upstairs to a bedroom and, after the son played with his children in the garden, he went to check on his father.

The court heard that O’Connell said to his son: “Do you know why I used to hate my father? Because he was a f****** p***head” before launching an assault which saw him repeatedly punching his victim in the face then pinning him to the floor and biting him on the nose. When the victim managed to get up, the defendant set about him with his walking stick.

The son, who has mobility issues, managed to escape from the bedroom and went to a neighbour’s house. In interview, O’Connell accepted causing some injuries to his son but said he had been acting in self-defence.

In an impact statement read to the court, the victim said he no longer has any contact with his father who he said had “brainwashed” him into thinking domestic violence was “normal”.

Anthony O’Connell, formerly of Gelli Fawr Road, Morriston, but now of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The 58-year-old, who was unrepresented in court, applied to be allowed to vacate his guilty plea but the application was refused by the judge.

The defendant has nine previous convictions for 11 offences including a wounding with intent from 2017 – an offence which saw him assault and bite his brother – and a battery against his daughter from 2021. In September last year he was given an extended sentence as a dangerous offender after robbing a man in Swansea city centre just weeks after the attack on his son.

Asked by Judge Huw Rees if he wanted to say anything in mitigation, the defendant said: “I promise I didn’t do it”.

Judge Rees said initially “all was well” at the family gathering but what then happened was an “irrational and prolonged assault” on the defendant’s son “which took many forms”. He said he suspected the reason O’Connell had wanted to withdraw his guilty plea was the shame he felt.

The judge said that shortly after the assault on his vulnerable son, the defendant committed the street robbery and it was clear O’Connell “has a propensity to serious physical violence”.

With a one-third discount for his guilty plea, O’Connell was sentenced to 28 months in prison. The sentence will be served concurrently with the extended sentence he is currently serving. ⚖️