A MAN who nearly bit off another man’s penis during an ugly scrap over a box trailer held on with his teeth until “there was no fight left in him”, a court has heard.

And while it is enough to make men everywhere wince, the melee has left a bad taste in Daniel Arthur Hatton’s mouth after he was convicted and fined $900 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

“I’m 100 per cent innocent,” Hatton said from his Narara home the day after he was convicted on Monday in Gosford Local Court and given a good behaviour bond for 18 months.

“I was set upon by four people.”

media_camera The victim’s ripped shorts. media_camera And the patch left in Hatton’s mouth.

The court was told the 53-year-old went to get an address for a man named Peter Peterson, who he was taking out an apprehended violence order against following a dispute involving Hatton’s son and an alleged stolen box trailer.

“I got near the front of his unit when he came flying out the door (with) two other guys and a woman,” Hatton told police in a recorded interview­.

Hatton said Mr Peterson punched him first and the pair ended up on the ground wrestling until the younger man gained ascendancy.

Witnesses told the hearing Mr Peterson ended up “on top throwing punches” with Hatton’s head near his crotch.

“To stop him jumping on me head again, I’ve grabbed a hold of something with me teeth,” Hatton told police.

“And I’ve just held on. I’ve just held on with me teeth ... I held on for another good minute, you know, in that position. Then people, I think he, he just started going slumping out, ... there was no fight left in him.”

Ronald Crowther said he had been with Mr Peterson and Shantelle White earlier and said after the fight he turned around to see “Pete’s jeans in his mouth”.

media_camera Daniel Hatton was angry with the court’s decision and maintains he was acting in self defence. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

Photographs of Mr Peterson’s denim shorts showing the patch ripped out in the eye-watering exchange were tendered in court along with a picture of his penis showing a large 5cm laceration to the underside.

Hatton left the Wyoming address about 10am on September 22 last year and reported it to police, who tracked Mr Peterson down at Gosford Hospital.

“I saw a male within the foyer area holding a bandage to his crotch,” Senior- Constable Daniel McArthur said in his statement. “He said ‘I’ve been bitten’. I said ‘bitten? Where?’ I saw he looked down at his crotch. I said ‘on the dick?’ He said ‘yeah’.”

media_camera Peter Peterson was treated at Gosford Hospital for a bite wound to his penis.

Hatton told police he was “half the size and twice the age” of Mr Peterson and when he was shown a picture of the man’s wounded manhood and asked if he knew how it happened, he said “no idea mate”.

“I suspect it was when I bit his leg to stop him jumping onto me head again,” he said. “Well, I didn’t knowingly bite him on the penis, you know, I’m not like that mate, you know.

“Like I say, I was fighting for my life at the time. My head was bouncing off the concrete like a pinball­.”

At his home on Tuesday Hatton maintained his innocence, blaming his ex-wife’s testimony — which contradicted his — and his honesty when first interviewed by police for losing his case.

“My own missus, my ex hammered me,” he said.

“Let this be a lesson to everybody, don’t ever trust the police and don’t tell them anything.” .

Hatton has appealed his conviction in the District Court.