Teenager Ella Dowling had part of her face "bitten off" by stranger on the 94 bus in Cheltenham

A teenager suffered a horrific ordeal when a stranger bit part of her face off while on the bus home. Ella Dowling was taking her usual route home with friends last year when they were approached by fellow passenger, Darren Taylor.

Taylor, 53, began making lewd comments about the group and as Ella sat down, he grabbed her face, and in a terrifying ordeal that lasted five minutes, repeatedly bit her nose and mouth, leaving the 19-year-old in need of 50 stitches and scarred for life.

Ella finally managed to get away, with the help of her friends and Taylor was detained by members of the public until police arrived. With the attack leaving Ella's left nostril down to the lower part of her lip hanging off, her attacker was arrested for causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent.

Ella, a social work student at Portsmouth University, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was taken to Cheltenham Hospital before being transferred to Gloucester Hospital for emergency surgery. She said: "The pain I felt when he sank his teeth into my face is something which will stay with me forever.

"He was like a dog with a toy - moving his head side to side. I put my hands around the back of his head because I knew if I didn't he would rip my lip and nose off completely.

"When I saw my face for the first time after the attack, I didn't recognise my own reflection, and I couldn't look in the mirror for months after that. I haven't used the bus since because of my PTSD.

"If I leave the house, I have to be on the phone with my mum or a friend because I'm terrified that I'm going to be attacked again. Eating and drinking can still be painful if I eat on a certain side.

"People say my scar is healing well but for me, it's more than a scar, it's a disfigurement and a permanent reminder of what's happened to me. I smile and speak differently which is something I'm going to have to learn to live with for the rest of my life."

On November 18, 2023, after a day in Cheltenham, Ella got the bus home at 8.15pm with two friends. While on the number 94 bus, they encountered "intoxicated" Taylor making lewd remarks about the teenager's appearance.

Despite attempting to end the interaction, Taylor refused to leave the group of girls alone. As the bus came to its last stop, Taylor launched himself at Ella. "I couldn't scream because he had my lip in his mouth, it was disgusting," Ella said.

"I noticed him when we got on the bus, he was strange and kept asking 'are you girls off out?'. When we told him to leave us alone, he started calling us 'white trash' and saying that he was a "gangster."

"It took my friends a few seconds to realise what he was doing and then they started screaming at him to get off me. The pain was horrific and I could feel his whole body shaking - when I looked down at my clothes after they were covered in blood."

During a police interview while under arrest, Taylor said he "was not a well man " and that "he must have lost control and cannot go around hurting people". He also said that he was remorseful.

Taylor appeared at Gloucester Crown Court in March 2024 where he pleaded guilty to GBH with intent and was sentenced at the same court on 18 July. He was handed a six-year and nine-month jail sentence and a life-long restraining order.

Since the attack, Ella has had a two-and-a-half-hour reconstructive NHS procedure to fix the damage caused to her face. Ella says doctors have told her she will be physically scarred for life - due to the enormity of her injuries.

Detective Constable Sophie McGough said: “The injuries Taylor caused were some of the worst I have ever seen. His actions that evening were awful, and I am glad that he will now spend time behind bars."

Gloucestershire Police have confirmed Taylor has filed an appeal of his sentence which Ella feels is another blow. However, she is determined "not to be defined" by the attack. 

She said: "While I'm glad he's been sentenced, there's no way he couldn't be, it was all caught on CCTV. I had to defer university for a year and move back home because of the attack. I still don't know to this day why he did it.

"I've started university again this year and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to continue. I refuse to be defined by this because I'm not a victim, I'm a survivor. I want to get back to the bubbly and outgoing person I used to be but it's going to take time."