A MAN lost part of his nose after a doorstep fight in Worcester on last Christmas Eve.

Christopher Wysocki bit Pelligrino Abbatiello and spat out a piece of the torn-off skin.

The attack happened as a group of men rowed outside a Chinese takeaway.

Wysocki left the scene at around 9.30pm and walked to a family party at his home in Tetbury Road, Warndon.

Abigail Nixon, prosecuting, said Mr Abbatiello followed him home and allegedly punched him in the face when he answered the door. Wysocki reacted with the bite.

She said surgeons planned to repair the nose injury with skin transplanted from behind one of the victim's ears.

Wysocki, aged 19, admitted at Worcester Crown Court to unlawful wounding.

Sentence was adjourned until Friday, September 26, for the probation service to see whether the defendant was suitable for a community punishment order.

"This incident seems barbaric," Judge Michael Mott told him as he granted bail. "It's something that dogs do to each other."

Offenders like him normally went to prison, the judge added, but Wysocki's claim that he was punched first was "credible".

Miss Nixon said a row developed on the car park of the takeaway in Lyppard Grange.

Wysocki, who had no previous convictions, complained he was floored by a punch after a face-to-face confrontation on his doorstep.

James O'Brien, defending, said Wysocki was hoping for a pleasant evening at his party when he was faced by Mr Abbatiello and an aggressive group of men.

He was invited out for a fight, then punched.

"The only thing he could think of to defend himself was to bite him on the nose," he added.