A CONVICTED killer who bit off part of a prisoner’s ear in a Worcestershire jail has been cleared of wounding.

Andrew Aston was given 26 life sentences in 2002 for two murders and 24 offences of robbery and assault.

But eight years after being locked up in Long Lartin maximum security prison, near Evesham, he fought fellow inmate Michael Dillon after accusing him of pushing into a dinner queue.

He bit off part of the victim’s left ear inside a shower block on a vulnerable prisoners’ wing where murderers and sex offenders are given special protection.

A jury at Worcester Crown Court yesterday cleared 38-year-old Aston, formerly of Stechford, Birmingham, of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. They also found him not guilty of unlawful wounding.

The jury was not told of Aston’s or Dillon’s previous convictions and were warned by Judge Patrick Thomas QC not to do research on the internet.

Aston claimed to have acted in self-defence when he got into a fight with Dillon on October 20 last year.

Nine years ago, Birmingham Crown Court was told that heroin and crack cocaine addict Aston killed two war veterans and targeted other elderly victims by tricking his way into their homes. He demanded they hand over cash to feed his drug habit.

His 90-day reign of terror in the West Midlands began in January 2001.

The number of concurrent life sentences he is serving is believed to be a record in England and Wales.