Tattooist who removed willing customer's nipple and created forked tongue for another jailed for three years

Though judges accepted ear removal had been ‘done quite well’, they said procedures were not comparable to tattoos and piercings

A tattooist who called himself “Dr Evil” has been jailed for three years for carrying out ear and nipple removals at the request, and with the written consent, of two of his customers.

Brendan McCarthy, who also carried out a tongue-splitting procedure at his studio in Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty last month to three counts of causing grievous bodily harm.

The 50-year-old, from Bushbury, Wolverhampton, appeared at the city’s Crown Court on Thursday afternoon.

The court had earlier heard McCarthy carried out the surgery without anaesthetic at his tattoo parlour, Dr Evil’s Body Modification Emporium, in Wolverhampton, despite having no medical qualifications.

McCarthy spent two years battling the Crown Prosecution Service through the courts to avoid a conviction for gross bodily harm.

But he admitted the charges after the Court of Appeal said his customers’ written consent to the procedures did not amount to a defence.

Earlier court hearings were told the ear removal was performed in 2015 without anaesthetic, three years after McCarthy split a woman’s tongue with a scalpel.

An online petition which attracted 13,000 signatures was set up to support the “knowledgeable, skilful and hygienic” body-piercer, who was refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Following a failed bid to convince a Crown Court judge that consent was a lawful defence, McCarthy took his case to the Court of Appeal, contending that the procedures should be regarded as lawful to protect the “personal autonomy” of his customers.

But three Court of Appeal judges, who noted that McCarthy had divided a customer’s tongue “to produce an effect similar to that enjoyed by reptiles”, said the procedures were not comparable to tattoos and piercings.

Although they accepted evidence that the ear removal had been “done quite well” the judges said it was not in the public interest that a person could wound another for no good reason.

In a statement issued after McCarthy pleaded guilty, Wolverhampton City Council said Public Protection officers had served a notice preventing him from carrying out “extreme” services.

Additional reporting by PA