Community service for shoulder biter

Friday 28 September 2018

A man who bit his "scared" partner on both shoulders will have to do 100 hours of community service for committing a grave and criminal assault.

The Magistrate's Court heard on Wednesday that Roberto Davide Silva (33) grabbed his partner around the neck and bit him once on each shoulder while the pair were arguing this summer.

The bites, which were described as being part of a "domestic violence assault", did not leave the victim in need of medical treatment, but did leave marks on his shoulders.

Police legal adviser Simon Crowder also made an application for a restraining order against Silva on behalf of the victim who said in his statement that he felt “scared” of his former partner.

But Advocate Jane Grace, defending, produced text messages to show that the victim had been contacting Silva on a constant basis after the assault took place. She argued that this behaviour was not consistent with someone who was “scared”.

She added that her client “expresses his remorse for his behaviour."

Pictured: Roberto Silva appeared in the Magistrate's Court this week and was convicted of grave and criminal assault after biting his former partner on his shoulders.

Whilst the Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris, presiding, was satisfied that the offence was serious enough to warrant jail-time, he ordered community service in light of the fact that Silva was a first-time offender and that the injury caused to the victim was minor.

The Assistant Magistrate noted that “the bites to each of the victim’s shoulders… do not appear to have broken the skin and no further medical attention was needed” and that no injury was sustained from Silva grabbing the victim’s neck.

Whilst assessing the seriousness of the assault, he added: “I’m mindful that bites can be a very serious way of assaulting someone, but albeit the modest injury, it’s not at the higher end of a bite assault.”

Assistant Magistrate Harris sentenced Silva to 100 hours of community service, which is the equivalent of four months in prison.

He declined to grant the restraining order, but nonetheless added that “it’s in Mr Silva’s interest to avoid contact with the victim”, advising that "both men... get on with their lives."