A SOLDIER who bit off a rival’s ear in a nightclub fight has been warned he faces jail.

Simon Bromfield, 29, of Cotleigh Road, Romford, left 24-year-old victim Billy Ternant permanently disfigured after the horrific attack, Inner London Crown Court heard.

Bromfield and Mr Ternant clashed after their girlfriends argued at the Coronet in Elephant and Castle, south London in the early hours of April 12 this year.

Mark Eldridge, prosecuting, said: “There was a scuffle between the two women in front of the bar.

“There was intervention by Mr Bromfield and a fight broke out between the two men.

“A witness said the first punch was delivered by the defendant.

“Afterwards Mr Ternant’s ear was bleeding heavily, a middle section of the ear was missing and the lobe was hanging off.”

Bromfield was arrested at the scene and Mr Ternant was treated at nearby St Thomas’ Hospital.

The severed piece of cartilage was never recovered.

The prosecutor added: “He has received substantial plastic surgery but is permanently disfigured.”

Smartly dressed in a suit former personal trainer Bromfield, who recently joined the Army, admitted the assault and was bailed while probation reports are prepared.

Judge Usha Karu warned Bromfield “immediate custody” was inevitable “even if it was self-defence that has gone over the top” but bailed him ahead of sentence on Tuesday December 7.

Bromfield admitted unlawful wounding.