Woman Bites Off Part Of Attacker's Tongue To Give Police His DNA

A British woman took a violent offender off the streets by biting off part of his tongue as he attacked her in an alley.

The Telegraph reports that Adele Barber, 29, was walking home at around 5 pm when a man came up behind her and pushed her against a fence.

He shoved his tongue into her mouth, but Barber, who had been a victim in another sexual attack 10 years ago, saw this as her best chance to bring him to justice.

She bit down on his tongue with all her strength, taking a piece of it off in order to capture the attacker's DNA and prove the encounter was not consensual.

Barber said the man seemed to enjoy the pain, however, so she clawed at his face until he let her go.

She then ran a mile home with the piece of tongue still in her mouth.

Barber knew from her previous experience that she needed to call the police as soon as possible, which she did before even telling her husband what had happened.

She said on British daytime talk show "This Morning,"

After the first assault I was absolutely a mess, I was young and naive and didn't go to the police straight away and a as a result there wasn't enough evidence to convict them. Again it made me even more determined this time to get the evidence, to show it wasn't consensual to the police as quick as I can.

Police told her to preserve the piece of tongue.

According to Barber,

They said if I had a sterile pot to put it straight in that, which I did.

Her evidence went on to be used as a DNA match when the attacker committed more crimes two months later.

He was convicted of three sexual assaults, according to the Telegraph, but deemed mentally unfit to stand a trial.

A judge therefore committed the attacker to a psychiatric unit for an indefinite amount of time on Jan. 15.

Barber advises other victims of assault to try to obtain evidence and contact the police as soon as they can.

Citations: Mother bit off sex attackers tongue to secure DNA evidence (The Telegraph)