A soldier who bit part of a student's ear off has been jailed for sinking his teeth into another man's nose in a "feral" attack.

Scott Melvin was spared prison last year so he could continue to serve in the Army despite tearing off the back of Peter Reid's ear in a nightclub assault.

Melvin repeatedly punched Mr Reid on the head before biting him at Prohibition nightclub on December 7, 2014.

He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community and to pay Mr Reid, who needed months of plastic surgery, £3600 in compensation.

Melvin was discharged from the Army in December and returned to Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Monday having previously admitted biting another man's nose during a drunken night out.

The court heard that just under than a year after the offence involving Mr Reid, Melvin had been convinced to go into town by friend David Crighton, who appeared alongside him in the dock.

The pair had been walking along Union Street in the early hours of November 1, 2015, when Crighton bumped into Isidro Soares. After a brief verbal exchange, a scuffle broke out.

Fiscal depute Alan Townsend said Mr Soares soon got the better of Crighton and Melvin stepped in to separate the pair before getting injured himself and becoming angry.

Mr Townsend said: "Mr Soares saw the accused Melvin coming back towards him and grab his body and bite his nose.

"He felt extreme pain. Mr Soares' nose was bleeding quite heavily at this point. There was a portion of skin missing from his nose and left nostril, exposing cartilage.”

The court heard that the struggle then ended and the two parties left the area, with Mr Soares and his partner seeking medical assistance at a 24-hour shop.

He was later referred to a burns unit where he was given a skin graft from behind his ear to replace the tissue.

Representing Melvin, solicitor advocate George Mathers said the fight kicked off "very quickly" and that Crighton was taking a "bit of a hiding" prompting his client to intervene.

Mr Mathers said: "He tries to separate them and then gets hit in the face "This angers him and he loses control.

"He accepts that he went well beyond what he should have done and that excessive force was used."

He added: "In the army the training is that you do what you have to do to win the fight."

Sheriff Annella Cowan sentenced Melvin, a prisoner at HMP Grampian, to 18 months in prison for assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

The sentence was backdated to November 10 when he was first remanded in custody.

He will also be subject to nine months supervision on his release.

The sheriff added: "This was particularly nasty and feral. You're a risk to the public."

Crighton, from Edinburgh, was put under two years supervision and given a year to do 200 hours of unpaid work in the community. The sentence was an alternative to a year in jail for his part in the assault.