A WOMAN who bit into a staff member at the Birallee Tavern only stopped her “crazy” behaviour when a pub patron pried her jaw open.
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Sharnna Hogan, 23, was drunk when she latched her teeth onto the venue manager on June 30 after being asked to leave.
She had attended the pub with her mother and drank schooners of Carlton Draught.
About five hours into the drinking session, Hogan got into a heated argument with her brother on the front deck, which involved swearing and yelling.
She tried to attack her sibling and was asked to leave and the bar manager got in between the pair.
Hogan went to grab her bag from a gaming area and took a swing at the manager, but he grabbed onto her arm.
She was again ordered to leave and was led out, but bit into the man’s chest in the process.
The 23-year-old latched on, refusing to release her jaw for between 20 and 30 seconds, before a person put their fingers into her mouth.
She was arrested two days later and admitted to drinking at least six schooners, but told police she couldn’t remember anything about the incident.
Magistrate John O’Callaghan told Hogan the fact she drank until she blacked out was “a little bit scary” and “indicative of some issues with alcohol”.
Hogan, who appeared to have the word “love” tattooed in faded ink on her fingers, told the magistrate she also had epilepsy.
“Another reason why you don’t want to be drinking a lot of alcohol,” he replied.
Photos of the manager’s injuries were tendered to the court.
“It’s a nice red mark on his chest,” Mr O’Callaghan noted, and warned Hogan the victim could sue her for large sums of money.
“If you’re biting someone in the chest for 20 seconds, that’s crazy behaviour”.
Police had applied to ban Hogan from all licensed venues for two years, which was knocked back by the magistrate.
She was fined $500 without conviction on charges of intentionally causing injury, unlawful assault and behaving in an offensive manner in a public place.
The Centrelink recipient has until May to pay the fine.