A student who bit off part of a man’s ear in a York nightclub must wait to learn his fate.

Maths student Joshua James Luke McGowan, 21, may also face disciplinary action by the University of York.

The victim, also a student, told police: “Throughout that incident he was very aggressive. I was scared, I was thinking; how could this happen.”

McGowan, of Westhouse Avenue, Nevilles Cross, Durham, pleaded guilty to wounding.

He denied an alternative more serious charge of wounding intending to cause the victim grievous bodily harm and was cleared by a York jury.

He told York Crown Court he had no memory of the incident because he had been drinking, and couldn’t believe he had inflicted the injury.

He was released on bail and will be sentenced on June 23.

Rachael Landin, prosecuting, said both students had been in Kuda nightclub in Clifford Street in the early hours of January 26 last year, but not together. Both were studying at the University of York.

In a statement read to the jury, the victim said he had had three or four drinks that evening and was not drunk.

As he walked through a group of people in the middle of a room, he felt McGowan elbow him in the back.

He was then punched in the face two or three times and tried to defend himself. Both men were standing up and he felt pain in his ear.

Earlier, Ms Landin, opening the prosecution, had told the court: “The defendant bit the ear of (the victim) removing the top part of it. He then immediately left Kuda nightclub and ran away.”

The victim said in his statement that he was in shock and could see that some of his ear was missing when he looked in a mirror.

Staff gave him first aid and he went to hospital by taxi because the wait for an ambulance was too long.

McGowan told the court the incident had happened during his first year at university when he had been smoking cannabis daily and regularly drinking a bottle of vodka, as he struggled to cope with his father’s death on January 26, 2021.

On the evening of January 25, 2022, he had had “pre-drinks” at a friend’s home before having more drinks at Lowther’s on the banks of the River Ouse.

That was the last he remembered of that night, he said.

He recognised himself in a police press appeal about the incident some days later and wanting to know what he had done, contacted police, he said.  

Read more about the police appeal

A University of York spokesman said: “This was a horrific assault, and our thoughts remain with the victim in this case, who sustained a shocking injury.

“We take the safety of our students very seriously, so when we were made aware of the incident, we put in place a number of measures, including restricting the individual from certain areas of the campus, and we will continue to offer support to anyone affected.

“Once sentencing has taken place and the criminal case is over, we will be reviewing the incident in line with our disciplinary procedure. These proceedings are confidential and we will therefore not be making any further comment.”