Mum told pal 'get rid of the finger' after receiving pics of her pretending to chew severed digit bitten off in attack

Kaytlin Crawford received Snapchat messages from a friend, who was pretending to chew the severed flesh, which had been bitten from a woman's hand in the street. Newcastle Crown Court heard instead of informing the police, 26-year-old Crawford advised the sender to dispose of the ring-finger tip and said "we are trying to get statements retracted for you, stay away from the bizzies until then".

Prosecutor Emma Dowling told the court Crawford had not been present or part of the violent incident but received some "unpleasant photographs" in the aftermath.

Miss Dowling said: "The pictures show a woman effectively chewing the finger tip, or pretending to. Miss Crawford took screenshots of those images and about 20 minutes later sent a message to the sender, saying 'get rid of the finger before you go home'."

Miss Dowling added: "She sent further messages later that morning, saying 'we're trying to get statements retracted for you, stay away from the bizzies until then'."

The court heard Crawford also sent messages to a male friend, asking for the name of the victim, who she branded a "rat". The pal told her the victim's "windows are going out". Miss Dowling added: "They exchanged messages in which they were laughing about the injury."

Crawford, of Quarry Road, Hebburn, admitted perverting the course of justice and has previous convictions. She has spent two-and-a-half months in prison on remand.

Mr Recorder Goldberg QC sentenced her to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with rehabilitation requirements. The judge said Crawford's advise to dispose of the finger was not the reason it could not be re-attached to the victim.

But he added: "In my judgement, you would have been well aware that would have been a risk if your advice was followed."

Penny Hall, defending, said Crawford sent a letter to the court, expressing remorse for what she did. Miss Hall said Crawford "did not go beyond" sending the messages and added: "She initially thought it was a joke, it doesn't look realistic on some of the pictures."