Girl, 19, had her face ‘bitten off’ by stranger on bus in front of passengers

A teenage girl needed 50 stitches after a stranger ‘bit her face off’ on the bus.

Ella Dowling, 19, was on her way home when fellow passenger, Darren Taylor, 53, started to make inappropriate comments about her and her friends.

Taylor then grabbed Ella’s face and repeatedly bit her nose and mouth, with the horrific attack lasting for about five minutes.

Ella and her friends managed to get away from Taylor who was subsequently detained by members of the public until the police arrived.

He was arrested for causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Part of Ella’s lip and her left nostril were severely injured, and the right side of her lip was split open.

Ella was initially treated at Cheltenham Hospital before being transferred to Gloucester Hospital for emergency surgery.

In March 2024, Taylor pleaded guilty to GBH with intent at Gloucester Crown Court and was sentenced on 18 July.

He was jailed for six-years and nine-months, and was handed a lifelong restraining order.

Ella, a social work student at Portsmouth University from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said: ‘The pain I felt when he sank his teeth into my face is something which will stay with me forever. He was like a dog with a toy – moving his head side to side.’

‘I put my hands around the back of his head because I knew if I didn’t he would rip my lip and nose off completely. When I saw my face for the first time after the attack, I didn’t recognise my own reflection, and I couldn’t look in the mirror for months after that.

‘I haven’t used the bus since because of my PTSD. If I leave the house, I have to be on the phone with my mum or a friend because I’m terrified that I’m going to be attacked again. Eating and drinking can still be painful if I eat on a certain side.

She added: ‘People say my scar is healing well but for me, it’s more than a scar, it’s a disfigurement and a permanent reminder of what’s happened to me. I smile and speak differently which is something I’m going to have to learn to live with for the rest of my life.’

It is said that Taylor had been intoxicated, and he started making lewd remarks about Ella’s appearance.

As the bus came to its last stop, Taylor attacked the teenager, biting her mouth and nose leaving her left nostril to her lower lip hanging off.

She said: ‘I couldn’t scream because he had my lip in his mouth, it was disgusting. I noticed him when we got on the bus, he was strange and kept asking “are you girls off out?”

‘When we told him to leave us alone, he started calling us “white trash” and saying that he was a “gangster”. It took my friends a few seconds to realise what he was doing and then they started screaming at him to get off me.

‘The pain was horrific and I could feel his whole body shaking – when I looked down at my clothes after they were covered in blood.”

Taylor told the police that he ‘was not a well man’, and that ‘he must have lost control and cannot go around hurting people.’

He also said that he was remorseful.

Ella has undergone a two-and-a-half-hour reconstructive NHS procedure.

Doctors have warned her she may be scarred for life – due to the severity of her injuries.

Detective Constable Sophie McGough commented: ‘The injuries Taylor caused were some of the worst I have ever seen. His actions that evening were dreadful, and I am relieved that he will now serve time behind bars.’

Gloucestershire Police have now confirmed that Taylor has lodged an appeal against his sentence, which Ella perceives as yet another setback.