Ear-biting case raises house arrest questions

A St. John's man accused of biting part of the ear off another man was not violating the terms of his house arrest, even though he was found at a downtown bar at 3 a.m., police said Tuesday.

Jason Alexander English, 30, was charged with aggravated assault after a fight in a George Street bar early Monday morning.

English, who is accused of chewing off part of a man's ear and of headbutting another man, has also been charged with assault and uttering threats.

The provincial court in St. John's is also dealing with a breach of a conditional sentence order, better known as house arrest.

But Const. Suzanne FitzGerald, who speaks for the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, said English was not breaking the rules by being out of his residence at that hour of the morning.

"I can confirm that the accused was wearing the bracelet when the officers effected the arrest, and all indications are at this point that the individual, the accused, was in full compliance with the conditions of the conditional sentence order," she said.

English was serving a conditional sentence and wearing a tracking bracelet on his ankle, following his conviction on a drug offence.

The terms of his conditional sentence allowed English to visit his business, the Crazy Horse strip club at the east end of Duckworth Street.

But he was found at the other end of the downtown area, at a George Street bar called Spin.

The court had ordered English to stay away from three specific downtown bars: Junctions, Liquid Ice and the strip club Sirens.  

The two men involved in the fight have been released from hospital. The man whose ear was bitten had plastic surgery.

English is scheduled to return to court on Thursday for a bail hearing