Best man Daniel Peasnell, 33, bit off the finger of a wedding guest after being ejected from The Perch pub in Binsey, Oxfordshire for a foul-mouthed rant at his then-girlfriend
Shocking footage shows the moment a best man who bit off a wedding guest’s finger ‘like an animal’ was restrained by police. Daniel Peasnell launched into the horror attack at pal Peter Green’s wedding at The Perch pub after being ejected for causing a scene.
The 33-year-old usher had to be held down by three people after fighting with lifelong friend Mr Green on his big day outside The Perch pub in Binsey, near Oxford. Amid the commotion, the dad-of-four – who began drinking at breakfast on what was also his 31st birthday – spotted the finger of Mr Green’s uncle, Stephen Dixon, and bit down so hard that he broke his bone.
Mr Dixon lost part of one of his fingers and had to have another part amputated after the incident, Oxford Crown Court heard. His Honour Judge Ian Pringle KC jailed Peasnell for five years for his offending, which also included threatening to bite a police officer’s nose off.
Police body-worn footage shows the moments immediately after Peasnell’s assault at the venue in Binsey, near Oxford.mA man can be heard shouting, “He’s bit half his finger off!” before a woman is heard screaming, “Oh my God!”. A police officer holding Peasnell down is later heard saying: “Can you get an ambulance as well? I think someone’s finger’s been bitten off.”
Peasnell is then seen sat on the pavement with blood all down the front of his shirt, muttering: “I don’t know what I’ve done wrong… Who have I assaulted?”Sentencing him, Judge Pringle said: “May 20, 2023, was a Saturday and was to be the day that one of your lifelong friends, Peter Green, got married. You were to be an usher at The Perch Inn, a beautiful venue for a wedding. The wedding itself was a tremendous success, described as ‘marvellous’. A really lovely wedding.
“During the course of proceedings you clearly were drinking. You got into an argument with your then-girlfriend, Laura. You shouted at her and called her a whore. You were ejected from the wedding, something you didn’t take kindly to.
“You got into a fight with the wedding organiser and a member of staff. Later on, you insisted that your friend, Peter Green, came out to speak to you. He did. “You thought he would be kind to you and invite you back inside. He described your behaviour that evening as behaving like a wild animal.
“When it was clear he was not going to invite you back inside, you became angry and a fight broke out. This was witnessed by Mr Green’s uncle, Stephen Dixon, his wife Karen and their children.
“Stephen Dixon and his son Fred decided to try and keep you quiet until the police arrived. [Mr Dixon] got on top of you and was holding you down. Just as the police were arriving, you saw his finger and bit on it with all your force.
“You bit so hard it broke his bone. The pain must have been excruciating, as we can see from the video. ‘He’s biting my f***ing finger,’ [Mr Dixon] shouted. The police got hold of you and eventually managed to handcuff you and take you away.
“They had to take you to hospital. You did have injuries. At the hospital, your anger hadn’t subsided. You turned to [one] police officer and said: ‘Get off my arms or I will bite your f***ing nose off’. That biting action was still in your mind hours later.”
Peasnell had denied grievous bodily harm with intent but was convicted after a trial at the same court earlier in the year. He previously admitted other charges of affray and using threatening words or behaviour towards a police officer. Jonathan Coode, defending, said Peasnell, who is originally from Essex, was full of remorse and embarrassment for the ‘sorry affair’, admitting he’d had a ‘skinful’ to drink and didn’t have a good relationship with alcohol.
“That is underestimating it,” Judge Pringle commented. Mr Coode added that despite his actions, there was an element of ‘excessive self-defence’ in what he did. “[Peasnell] was receiving punches to the head and body,” he said. “He had had an absolute skinful. He couldn’t breathe [and] it was in these circumstances that he did what he did.” Mr Coode added that Peasnell was no longer drinking and has a fifth child due in the New Year. Prosecutor David Jones said Peasnell had used his mouth as a ‘dangerous weapon’ in his attack on Mr Dixon, who had to have part of his finger amputated the day after. “The top of the finger was recovered from the scene”, he said, adding that Mr Dixon could no longer play the drums and had lost out on work due to the injury inflicted by Peasnell. Jailing him for five years, Judge Pringle told Peasnell: “You say you are deeply ashamed and disgusted at how you acted. Your big problem is to realise that alcohol and you are incompatible. Using your teeth as you did was using them as a weapon.”
