A man who bit a man's thumb through to the base, removing the nail, received 80 hours community service for Actual Bodily Harm (ABH).

The incident occurred during a fight between Alexander Macaulay and his then girlfriend’s brother, Anthony Moss, on May 25 2009.

After an exchange of blows Mr Moss' thumb was bitten with a force that Judge Susan Matthews described as “hard and impassioned”.

Macaulay and Mr Moss had previously been arguing about the deteriorating state of Mr Macaulay's relationship with Mr Moss' sister, Ms Blackburn.

After arriving at the home they shared on Oakhill Road, Surbiton, Mr Macaulay then had a heated argument with Ms Blackburn which ended with him telling Ms Blackburn to leave.

She then packed her bags and called her brother. When Mr Moss arrived, a fight soon started between the two men.

Mr Moss, a martial arts black belt, said his thumb went into Macaulay's mouth while trying to fend him off.

He claimed that after the injury to his thumb he was unable to defend himself.

While sentencing Macaulay, of Orchard Road, Kingston, Judge Matthews acknowledged that although he was not 100 per cent to blame “putting her [Ms Blackburn] out in the middle of the night had inflamed the situation”. She added that the injury was serious enough to deserve the 12 month community order with 80 hours unpaid labour.