Woman Pleads Guilty To Biting Off Man’s Tongue Before Seagull Ate It

A 27-year-old woman bit off a large chunk of a man's tongue during a street brawl, which was eaten by a seagull immediately after he spat it out, a U.K. court heard.

The Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told about the grisly incident that happened in 2019 when Bethaney Ryan appeared before the court to plead guilty last Thursday, Edinburgh Live reported.

According to prosecutor Susan Dickson, Ryan and James McKenzie got into an altercation on Aug. 1, 2019, around 8 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) as they passed each other in Leith. The duo did not know each other but “an argument developed” between them, as per the court.

Dickson said though Ryan had initially tried to walk away from the fight, McKenzie continued to be aggressive toward her and approached her with a clenched fist.

"She, somewhat oddly, responded to that by pushing him on the body and kissing him. She kissed him on the lips and during the course of that she bit through his tongue which caused a piece of his tongue to be removed. McKenzie walked off and spat a part of his tongue out at which point, the piece of muscle was picked up by a large seagull that made off with the piece of the tongue,” the prosecutor told the court.

The court was told the piece of his tongue bitten off during the struggle was approximately two centimeters by three centimeters in size. Mckenzie was taken to a hospital where “the laceration to his tongue” was said to be “oozing blood.” The woman was later arrested.

“He did not require surgery given the piece of the tongue was no longer available and could not be reattached," Dickson said.

Solicitor Neil Martin, who defended Ryan, said the attack was “a very strange incident in the round,” but added he would reserve his full mitigation to the sentencing hearing.

Last year, a Detroit woman was arrested after she bit off a man's tongue while kissing. According to Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, Youlette Wedgeworth, 52, and the man were engaged in a consensual kiss when the incident happened. The prosecutor said Wedgeworth had asked the man not to put his tongue in her mouth. When he did it anyway, she bit it off.