A TOURIST who bit her boyfriend’s face at a Bowness hotel was given a suspended prison sentence.

Kirsty Ditchfield, 22, of Wardle Brook Avenue, Hyde, came to the Lake District to enjoy a weekend away with her partner David Meecham on March 9.

South Lakeland Magistrates’ Court heard the couple had ‘quite a bit to drink’ while watching a football match - Ditchfield had four pints of lager and three shots of spirits - and were asked to leave the Bodega Bar in Bowness.

Police officers called to the bar found them both ‘in a state’ and after they calmed down, were allowed to return to their hotel.

Later that night Ditchfield called 999 and asked for the police to come to the hotel, saying she had caused an injury to her partner.

When officers arrived they found Mr Meecham with blood on his cheek, where she had bitten him ‘two or three times’. She confirmed to them she was responsible.

She told police: ‘Please arrest me or I am going to do something.’ She admitted in interview that they had been arguing at the hotel, which led to a struggle and she bit her boyfriend. She called police because she was ‘worried she was going to hurt him’.

Mr Meecham did not make a complaint against his girlfriend, but she was prosecuted based on the evidence of her own admission during interview.

In mitigation, Saul Comish said Ditchfield had left formal schooling at 13 and had no qualifications, and she had been unemployed apart from spells working in cafes.

He said she suffered from depression and anxiety, and alcohol was behind her offending behaviour.

She started drinking at 15 and had relatively large quantities every day.

Magistrates sentenced Ditchfield to a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. She was also given a 12-month supervision order with an alcohol treatment requirement for six months.

She was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £80 victim surcharge.