A prisoner had his left ear bitten off when his cell mate attacked him unprovoked during a psychotic episode, a court has heard.
Roman Becvár (28), of no fixed abode, previously pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to another prisoner at Cork Prison.
The victim (45) was unable to have his ear reattached and has opted not to get a prosthesis.
Det Sgt Kieran O’Sullivan told Cork Circuit Criminal Court the incident occurred shortly before 10pm on April 9th, 2023.
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The court heard the prisoner was just about to go to sleep on his bunk when Mr Becvár, with whom he had shared a cell for about a week, asked him for tobacco. The man told the accused he did not have any.
“The next thing he remembers is Mr Becvár banging on the inside door of the cell,” Det Sgt O’Sullivan said. “Prison staff entered. They discovered the injured party lying on the cell floor in a pool of blood. Mr Becvár was standing against the back wall of the cell with his hands up, blood on his hands and clothing.”
Det Sgt O’Sullivan said the ear was sitting in the blood on the floor. The injured man was taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment after being seen by a nurse.
Mr Becvár has no recollection of the assault, but had knuckle injuries consistent with having assaulted a person. CCTV footage was harvested and showed that nobody else had entered the locked cell.
Judge Helen Boyle heard that in addition to losing an ear, the victim suffered injuries consistent with blunt force trauma such as cheekbone and jaw fractures.
Mr Becvár, a Czech national, has four previous convictions related to an incident of aggravated burglary in 2023.
Det Sgt O’Sullivan said the victim wants to put the incident behind him and is “coming to terms” with losing his ear.
Elizabeth O’Connell SC, for the accused, said her client, who lacks proficiency in English, is now in solitary confinement in prison. She said no further incidents have occurred since he was prescribed antipsychotic medication and that Mr Becvár “does not understand” why the assault happened.
Ms O’Connell said her client had “a diagnosis of psychosis possibly up to schizophrenia”.
Judge Boyle remanded Mr Becvár in continuing custody for sentencing on November 14th.
