Man gets finger bitten off at school nativity

A father had his finger bitten off by another parent as a brawl erupted at a school nativity in South Shields, Tyne and Wear.

The fight occurred at Harton Primary School, as one man bit another’s finger off and “spat it out like an animal”- according to a witness. The brawl began in a room prior to the nativity starting with shocked parents looking on.

The 32-year-old victim has been discharged from hospital after being treated for his injury while a 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and later bailed by police.

“Two men started to fight in front of all the mums and dads,” a parent told ‘South Shields Gazette’. “One bit the finger off the other and spat the blood out like an animal.”

“I heard a bit of commotion from the back of the room and looked around to see what was going on,” another said. “A man in a white hat stormed in and went for another dad. They were fighting and blood was flying. It was broken up by teachers quite quickly and the man in the hat disappeared.”

It is thought that no children witnessed the incident as they were preparing for the nativity. A spokesman for the school said the children were not “at risk at any time” and they are assisting police with inquiries into the attack.

“On Tuesday at about 1.50pm an incident occurred at Harton Primary School,” a police spokesman said. “There was a disturbance between two male parents, and one sustained an injury to his hand which required medical treatment. The other man was arrested by police for assault and released on bail.”