Stranger bites off part of screaming teenage girl's face in front of horrified bus passengers

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES - Ella Dowling, 19, was on her usual bus home when Darren Taylor, 53, began making comments about her and her friends before he launched the frenzied attack

A 19-year-old girl suffered a horrific attack on a bus when a stranger bit off part of her face, leaving her requiring 50 stitches.

In November last year, Ella Dowling boarded her usual bus home when a fellow passenger, 53-year-old Darren Taylor, began making remarks about her and her friends. As Ella sat down, Taylor grasped her face and repeatedly bit her nose and mouth during a terrifying five-minute ordeal.

With the assistance of her friends, Ella managed to break free and Taylor was restrained by bystanders until the police arrived. He was arrested for causing grievous bodily harm with intent after leaving Ella's left nostril and part of her lip severely injured.

The right side of her lip was also split open, and she had visible bite marks on her nose and mouth. Ella was rushed to Cheltenham Hospital before being transferred to Gloucester Hospital for emergency surgery. In March 2024, Taylor appeared at Gloucester Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to GBH with intent and was sentenced on 18 July.

He received a six-year and nine-month prison sentence and 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."

He 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."

On November 18, 2023, after a day in Cheltenham, Ella got the bus home at 8.15 pm with two friends. While on the number 94 bus, they encountered "intoxicated" Taylor making lewd remarks about the teenager's appearance. Despite attempting to end the interaction, Taylor refused to leave the group of girls alone.

As the bus came to its last stop, Taylor launched himself at Ella, 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."

During a police interview while under arrest, Taylor said 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. Since the brutal attack, Ella has undergone a two-and-a-half-hour reconstructive NHS procedure to repair the damage inflicted on her face.

Ella reveals that doctors have warned her she will bear physical scars 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 informed that Taylor has lodged an appeal against his sentence, which Ella perceives as another setback. However, she is resolute in her decision "not to be defined" by the assault. Brave Ella said: "While I'm pleased he's been sentenced, there's no way he couldn't be, it was all captured on CCTV.

"I had to postpone university for a year and move back home because of the attack. I still don't understand why he did it to this day. I've started university again this year and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to continue. I refuse to be defined by this because I'm not a victim, I'm a survivor. I want to get back to the bubbly and outgoing person I used to be but it's going to take time."