Dealer who cut off part of ear jailed

A drug dealer from the Black Country who sliced off part of a woman's ear over an unpaid debt has been jailed for a minimum of seven and a half years.

Andre Singh, 30, from Wednesbury, lured Patricia Amos to Teddy Bear Woods near Banbury in Oxfordshire before telling her to kneel down and close her eyes. He then put a gun in her mouth before wrestling her to the floor and cutting off part of her ear.

The attack was in revenge for an unpaid drug debt after Miss Amos allegedly cut drugs she was selling on Singh's behalf.

Singh, of Lloyd Street, was also convicted last year of shooting a man who owed him money. He had threatened to blow up the house of Mark Usmar's parents before shooting him twice in the right leg.

Yesterday Singh was told at Leicester Crown Court he will serve an indeterminate jail term. Judge Howard Morrison QC said he was "an enigma" because while on remand he had saved a fellow inmate's life in a kitchen fire. The judge added: "As matters stand, you pose a significant risk to the public of causing serious injury."

Singh was convicted of two counts of wounding with intent, possession of a firearm without a certificate and possession of cocaine with intent to supply.