A JUDGE branded him too dangerous to be back on the streets until he is "feeble," and jailed him for life.

But Brett Vincent Lill - who bit a doorman's ear and later went on the run for 15 months after vaulting to freedom from a courtroom dock - could still be free within only two-and-a-half years.

Judge Paul Hoffman said: "In my view, you should not be released to the public until you are feeble." But the judge set a tariff under national sentencing policies, allowing Lill to be considered for parole after 30 months.

Lill's time on the run ended when police gatecrashed his wedding and arrested him before he could say his vows.

Fugitive caged

TOO dangerous to be on the streets until he is "feeble" - that was the judge's verdict on a businessman who bit a doorman's ear, and later vaulted to freedom from a court dock.

But after Brett Vincent Lill was jailed for life, he was immediately told he could be free in only two-and-a-half years' time.

Lill's jailing brought an end to a bizarre sequence of events that started in January last year when he half-bit off the ear of doorman Alastair Farrow.

Having taken cocaine and alcohol, he struggled so violently with door staff at Judges' Lodgings, in Lendal, York, that Mr Farrow ran across from nearby Varsity to help his colleagues. Mr Farrow's ear was bitten so badly that the cut needed glueing together in hospital. Lill turned on PCs David Clark and Christopher Scott, trying to bite them and kicking out, and he had to be subdued with CS spray.

After being taken to court, he leapt from the dock and went on the run for 15 months. He was then tried and convicted in his absence of wounding with intent.

He was finally arrested this summer after police gatecrashed his wedding before he could take his vows, after having spent almost 15 months on the run.

The Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, ordered Lill, 34, to spend the rest of his life behind bars He told Lill: "You are a very dangerous man at present and you will remain so for the indefinite future. In my view, you should not be released to the public until you are feeble."

He set the tariff of two-and-a-half years, because that was half the sentence he would have imposed had he not had to pass a life sentence.

Under the "two strikes and you're out" law, the judge had to pass a life sentence as Lill had a previous conviction for wounding with intent. But he set a tariff of two-and-a-half years before Lill can get parole.

York Crown Court heard that Lill had 73 previous convictions, including many for violence. It also heard that he could have avoided the life sentence altogether had he turned up at a specially arranged hearing on August 4, 2005, to admit the lesser charge of wounding doorman Alastair Farrow without intent. Wounding without intent doesn't count as a "strike".

Chris Smith, prosecuting, said that while Lill was on the run, a jury had convicted the businessman, formerly of Cherry Street, Copmanthorpe, in his absence of wounding Mr Farrow with intent by half-biting off his ear on January 21, 2005, plus two charges of assaulting police officers with intent to resist arrest.

Stephen Field, defending, said Lill's partner was 12 weeks' pregnant with his child.

He said Lill had not thought through the consequences of his actions and could not remember what he had done outside the Judges' Lodgings. His partner and family were standing by him.

His solicitors had persuaded the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to accept a guilty plea to wounding in August 2005, but Lill had not attended court.

The judge said he would have made comments about the judgement of the CPS lawyer who made that decision, had Lill pleaded guilty.

The two strikes and you're out law

Strike One: The sentence - Lill jailed at Croydon Crown Court for five years.

The offence: He hit victim Greg Palmer on the head with an ashtray and threw bottles and glasses in a Kentish pub. Mr Palmer needed 46 stitches.

Why Croydon?: Lill had committed drug dealing offences in York and his sister, Karen Whitehead, had provided him with a bed at her pub in Biggin Hill so he could get bail.

The drugs: Police spotted Lill unearthing his amphetamine stash in St Nicholas' Field, Tang Hall, York, and selling it in local streets. Then they found heroin at his then home in Asquith Avenue, Tang Hall.

Strike Two: The sentence - Lill jailed at York Crown Court for life.

The offence: Lill had taken cocaine and alcohol. He struggled so violently with door staff at Judges' Lodgings, Lendal, York, that doorman Alastair Farrow ran across from nearby Varsity to help his colleagues. Lill bit Mr Farrow's ear so badly, the cut needed glueing together in hospital. Lill then turned on police officers David Clark and Christopher Scott, tried to bite them and kicked out. Threatened them and other officers. Had to be subdued with CS spray.

How jail time adds up Wounding without intent: maximum sentence is five years - less for those who plead guilty.

Wounding with intent: maximum is life.

Sentence Judge Hoffman would have passed had Lill not been on two strikes: five years.

Life sentence: tariff under the "two strikes and you're out" law - equals half the sentence the judge would have passed - two-and-a-half years.