But despite his horrific ordeal, Warwick Crown Court heard that Gary Wilson's disfigured victim Nigel Aldred refused to make a complaint to the police.

Wilson, of Lyttelton Road, was jailed for two years and four months after pleading guilty to charges of wounding, causing damage and assault by beating.

Speaking at the court last Tuesday, prosecutor Louise Pierpoint said in March the two men, were drinking on the nearby canal towpath, when they encountered some people who egged Mr Aldred on to drink a lot of neat vodka.

Mrs Pierpoint said: "It was clear Mr Aldred was in a semi-conscious state because of the amount he had drunk, but the defendant tipped beer down his throat until he almost choked."

After Mr Aldred vomited, Wilson, 21, urinated over his head and face and filled a can with canal water which he poured over him.

He then squeezed superglue over his friend's face and mouth and threw beer cans at him, before dropping a shopping trolley over Mr Aldred's head several times.

Mr Aldred, who was starting to come round, cried out, but Wilson then asked if he could bite Mr Aldred's ear off – and his victim, in his drunken state and not really appreciating what was going on, said yes.

Wilson bent down and bit off a chunk of his friend's nose and chewed it before spitting it out and walking off.

Mrs Pierpoint said Mr Aldred will suffer a long-term disfigurement, but the exact extent of the injury is not known because of his refusal to co-operate with the police.

She added that Wilson had previous convictions for wounding and affray, and was in breach of an anti-social behaviour order at the time, banning him from aggressive behaviour and throwing missiles.

Nick Devine, defending, said: "Bizarre as it may seem, this all arose out of drunken horseplay.

"Mr Wilson bore no animosity towards Mr Aldred. He was drunk, and behaved this way towards someone who was a good friend. He does bitterly regret what happened."

Recorder Stephen Thomas told Wilson: "In the course of the evening you both consumed a large amount of alcohol.

"You launched a savage attack on your friend, who was vulnerable and unable to comprehend what you were doing.

"Then you, in an act of savagery, bit his nose off and chewed it. The photographs I have seen reveal the full extent of your savagery towards him."