A parent who bit off part of a football manager's ear at a boys' Sunday league match was today jailed for three years.

Father-of-three Peter Tucker, 49, bit a chunk out of Simon Kay's ear after trouble broke out on the touchline after the Hove Park Colts beat Fishersgate Flyers 6-2.

Tucker, who was supporting the Flyers, was found guilty by a jury at Hove Crown Court last month of wounding Mr Kay, who managed the Colts, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Recorder Ian Wilson told Tucker: "The injury you caused to Mr Kay will be with him forever and no doubt the memory of this incident.

"This offence was committed in the presence of impressionable youngsters and set an appalling example to them.

"There was no good reason why you could not have left the ground.

"I do accept there was an element of provocation by some parents of the opposition team and I accept you got carried away by your temper in the heat of the moment."

Tucker, a holistic therapist who walks with crutches, ripped off part of Mr Kay's ear during a violent struggle between the two men after the game in November 2000 at playing fields in Middle Road, Shoreham.

Paul Casey, prosecuting, told the court Tucker was causing trouble during the game, verbally abusing opposition parents and players.

Mr Casey said: "After the match, Tucker grabbed hold of Mr Kay and tried to punch him.

"The two men fell to the floor. Tucker was on top.

"He was wrestling with him. Mr Kay turned his face away, fearing his spectacles would be damaged. He then felt a pain in his ear."

As Tucker left the scene with his front teeth broken, one of the boys shouted: "He's bitten off his ear."

During the trial Tucker, of Fairway Crescent, Portslade, said he had been called the "village idiot" by Colts' supporters and acted in self defence.

He said: "I bit his ear because I just wanted to end it."

He said he had not realised he had the ear in his mouth when he spoke to the manager of the Flyers, Trevor Leeney, after the attack.

The court heard Mr Leeney was splattered with blood as Tucker spat it out and tried to apologise for what happened.

The court heard that He was chased to a shop 900 yards away by angry Colts' supporters.

A doctor who was watching the game found the chunk of ear and took Mr Kay, 40, to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, but doctors were not able to sew it back on. Mr Kay, who gave up managing the Colts after the attack, has undergone plastic surgery to repair his ear, using skin grafts from his chest. Alison Faulkes, defending, said Tucker was devoted to his family and suffered from ill-health.

Ms Faulkes said Tucker, who has been married for 23 years, had led a law-abiding lifestyle since his last criminal conviction 20 years ago.

She said: "This is not a man who goes out with violence in mind."

She said he was supported loyally by his family and his wife described him as a model father.

She said Tucker was a former builder who now suffers from a chronic back condition.

Ms Faulkes said she understood there would be a civil claim for compensation by Mr Kay against Tucker.

During the trial, the court heard Tucker was convicted of assaulting two police officers in 1981 and of robbery in 1977, for which he was jailed for 18 months.