Mastermind of extreme body modifications business jailed

The mastermind of a lucrative extreme body modifications business has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years.

Marius Gustavson and his acolytes carried out procedures on an unprecedented scale, the Old Bailey heard.

Procedures were videoed and posted on Gustavson's Eunuch Maker website which netted him more than £300,000 between 2017 and 2021.

Gustavson, 46, of Haringey, north London, admitted charges including conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

On Thursday Judge Lucraft sentenced him to life with a minimum term of 22 years.

Six other men received jail terms of between four-and-a-half years and 12 years for their part in the plot.

Judge Lucraft said: "Gustavson, on the evidence you are very much the mastermind behind this grisly and gruesome enterprise.

"Like-minded individuals were recruited by you, Gustavson, to assist in what became a large-scale, dangerous, and extremely disturbing enterprise.

"The procedures were conducted in amateur and dangerous ways: in some instances it is little more than human butchery.

"Some procedures were overtly sexual or had clear sexual overtones. Many procedures clearly caused great distress and some resulted in the need for immediate emergency medical treatment.

He added: "I am entirely satisfied that the motivation of all those involved were a mix of sexual gratification as well as financial reward."

Extreme body modification is linked to a subculture where men become "nullos", short for genital nullification, by having their penis and testicles removed.

Previously, prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said Gustavson was linked to at least 29 procedures.

After one of them, Gustavson cooked severed testicles for lunch which he ate in a salad he had prepared for himself, she said.

He had taken various pictures from "raw ingredients to an artfully arranged salad platter", Ms Carberry told the court.

She added: "There is also, we say, clear evidence of cannibalism."

The court heard Gustavson, who had two previous fraud convictions in Norway, offered to sell the severed penis of one of his victims for hundreds of pounds.

According to court documents, body parts were put up for auction online with a "buy it now" button.

The other defendants had admitted their part in the conspiracy relating to 13 victims, the youngest of whom was 16 years old.

Ms Carberry said the defendants used a wide variety of tools such as clamps used for animal castration.

Gustavson was arrested after he used a red-hot iron to brand a man's calf with the letters EM - for Eunuch Maker.

In a victim impact statement, the man who complained to police, described Gustavson as a "lunatic" who had put together a "slick, professional website".

Some 22,000 subscribers paid to access videos on the Eunuch Maker website, with varying levels of membership from "free" to "VIP" which cost £100.

The police investigation led to the arrest of 10 men in London, Scotland and South Wales.

During raids, officers found Gustavson's penis in a drawer in his home four years after it had been amputated.

Gustavson, a Norwegian national, also had to have his leg amputated in February 2019 after getting a man to freeze it and claimed £18,000 in disability payments up until 2021.

Earlier in mitigation, Rashvinderjeet Panesar said the breakdown of Gustavson's marriage was the "trigger" for his offending.

The defence barrister said: "He had a desire to be the architect of his own body.

"His modification led him to feelings of empowerment.

"It appears at face value to be something that's become an addiction for him."

Gustavson had pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, making and distributing an indecent photograph of a child, and possession of criminal property.

The other six defendants had admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

Peter Wates, 67, of Purley, Surrey, a retired former member of the Royal Society of Chemists, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Janus Atkin, 38, of Newport, Gwent, who had been completing a veterinary course, was jailed for 12 years.

Ion Ciucur, 30, of Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, received five years and eight months imprisonment, and Stefan Scharf, 61, of no fixed address, was sentenced to four and a half years in jail.

David Carruthers 61, and Ashley Williams, 32, of Newport, Gwent, were jailed for 11 years and four years, six months respectively.

In January, three men were sentenced after admitting causing grievous bodily harm to Gustavson.

Damien Byrnes, 36, from north London, was jailed for five years for removing Marius Gustavson's penis with a kitchen knife on video at his home on February 18 2017.

Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 23, from Epsom in Surrey, was jailed for three years and eight months for freezing Gustavson's leg leading to the need for it to be amputated in February 2019.

Nurse Nathan Arnold, 48, from South Kensington, west London, received a two-year suspended sentence for the partial removal of Gustavson's nipple with a scalpel in the summer of 2019.

Kate Mulholland, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Marius Gustavson ignored the risks of performing unnecessary surgery on vulnerable men for sexual gratification and financial gain. He actively recruited participants through his website and was paid to stream the footage of these barbaric procedures.

"Whilst the victims in this case all seemingly consented to surgeries and amputations, the victim who bravely reported his assault to the police expressed serious regret regarding his procedure and the lasting impact it has had upon him. This clearly emphasises why such practices are unlawful.

"The severity of today's sentence should act as a warning to others that performing extreme body modifications is against the law and the CPS won't hesitate to prosecute these horrendous crimes."

Detective Inspector Amanda Greig, from Scotland Yard, said: "I would like to highlight the excellent work of the Met's investigation team, who have examined thousands of hours of horrific material seized from the suspects.

"Their diligence and professionalism have ensured no one else will suffer at the hands of these men.

"This lengthy and complex investigation demonstrates that we are determined to protect Londoners from harm and bring those that threaten the safety of our communities to justice."

Consultant urological surgeon Chris Dawson, who was consulted on the case, said: "The procedures performed in these cases have highlighted the dangers involved in 'back-street surgery'.

"To become a highly qualified surgeon takes a number of years, and these procedures should not be carried out by anyone without the necessary experience or expertise as it risks serious complications such as significant bleeding, or sepsis.

"Penis removal is a complex procedure which is performed only by surgeons who have specialised in that area.

"If performed by an inexperienced person there would be a high likelihood of needing corrective surgery afterwards."

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