An infuriated man attacked a security guard and bit off his finger after chanting racist abuse.
Florin-Mihai Badea
A vicious yob has been jailed for seven years for launching a racist rant at a hospital security guard - and then biting off his finger.
Florin-Mihai Badea reacted angrily, directing a tirade of racist abuse at the guard after he was asked to leave the hospital for loitering.
A court heard how the 29-year-old Romanian national spat the guard's finger out after gnawing on it for around three-minutes.
He appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Monday and was sentenced to seven years behind bars after being found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and racially religiously aggravated common assault.
The court previously heard how on Sunday April 19, Badea, of no fixed address, was seen loitering and charging his mobile phone in St Thomas' Hospital, London.
Two security officers approached Badea and asked him if he was a patient, staff member or if he was visiting anyone. Badea replied that he wasn't.
When the officers asked him to leave, he began shouting, swearing and racially abusing the guards who then attempted to escort him out of the hospital.
As Badea spat at them, one of the officers put his hands over the defendant's mouth. But the yob responded by biting the guard's finger for approximately three minutes. On releasing his bite, the defendant spat out the tip of the finger. Police attended the scene and he was arrested.
Hospital staff recovered the missing part of the finger but medics were unable to reattach it.
Once Badea has served his sentence he will be deported back to his native Romania. Detective Constable Alex Fisher, from Lambeth CID, said: "The long sentence handed to Badea reflects the serious impact of his crime upon his victims.
"One of the victims has been permanently disfigured following the attack and will be reminded of this incident for the rest of his life.
"Everyone has the right to work in safety without fear of racial and physical assault".