A drug debt enforcer is facing a long jail sentence after being found guilty of biting off a man’s nose at a Teignmouth Christmas party.

Andrew Pile made a series of threats to victim Richard Sachaidac to try to make him pay a £1,000 debt owed by his son and then ambushed him at a wine bar in Teignmouth.

He asked Mr Sachaidac to go outside, and when he refused he lunged at him with a craft knife blade before biting off the tip of his nose.

They both fell into the Christmas tree at the No 9 Bistro, where Mr Sachaidac had gone after taking his 10-year-old daughter on a Santa Experience train ride.

The end of Mr Sachaidac’s nose was picked up from the floor by staff who packed it in frozen peas but the damage was too great to enable surgeons to re attach it.

He also suffered a slash to his finger where he fended off the blade and wounds to his skull and temple where he was hit by a hammer by a second attacker Dayle Rees.

Pile claimed he was acting in self defence and had not intended to cause serious injury but he refused to go into the witness box at Exeter Crown Court.

He was found guilty after everyone who was in the bar, including Rees, testified that Pile had attacked Mr Sachaidac, rather than it being the other way round.

Pile, aged 32, of Mill Lane, Teignmouth, denied but was found guilty of  wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in the incident on December 3 last year.

Rees, aged 32, of Greenway, Exeter, admitted the same charge and gave evidence against Pile at the trial.

Pile, who has a previous conviction for another knife attack, was told he will receive a long jail term and may be subject to an extended sentence if he is deemed to be a dangerous offender.

Recorder Mr Edward Burgess, QC, adjourned sentence on both men for four weeks and ordered a probation report to address the issue of whether Pile poses a risk to the public.

During a week-long trial the jury heard from Mr Sachaidac how he received threats the day before the attack and on his mobile phone while he was with his daughter on the Santa Experience.

Pile was demanding he pay a £1,000 debt allegedly run up by his son 22-year-old son Liam for drugs. He told him it was nothing to do with him and he would not pay.

He was with a group of friends and family at the bistro in Northumberland Place at about 3.30 pm when Pile came in with Rees, whom he had never met before.

Pile and Rees had been to the bar at lunchtime looking for Mr Sachaidac and Pile told the owner he hoped he would not pay up because he was looking forward to attacking him. He also said he was paying Rees £75 an hour to help him.

Mr Sachaidac, aged 51, said he used a beer bottle to fight for his life during the attack.

He told the jury: ’Pile was shouting and screaming. He was not making a lot of sense and there was a scuffle.

’I felt my head go bang and felt another sharp pain. I turned around and Pile came at me. The other man hit me four times on the head.

’I saw a flash of something coming at me and I grabbed it. I thought it was something like a Stanley knife. It was all happening so quickly. He was agitated, like a man possessed.

’I cut my finger. The other man was still hitting me with a hammer. I fought back because If he had his way I would be in a box now. He had a knife and it was deliberate.

’I hit him with the bottle to defend myself. They were both on me. I am sure the bottle did not break. It went on for a few minutes and I felt a pain in my nose and realised half had been bitten off.

’Pile was close to my face when I felt that pain. I did not realise it had been bitten off until someone pointed it out and put it on the bar and the police put it on ice.

’I am still scarred but it has grown back naturally. I am still getting double vision and think I have a detached retina.

’ had to defend myself with the bottle. You’d do the same if two people came at you, one with a knife and one with a hammer. Do you think I wanted all that with a five-year-old and a 10-year-old at a Christmas dinner?’ 

Pile chose not to give evidence. Rees claimed he had been duped into taking part in the attack and used a hammer to hit Mr Sachaidac to stop him hitting Rees with the bottle.