Six jailed members of a profitable “human butchering” enterprise can appeal the length of their sentences, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Mastermind Marius Gustavson and his assistants performed male castration, penis removal and other “grisly and grisly” procedures on 16-year-old teenagers on an unprecedented scale when they were sentenced earlier this year, the Old Bailey heard.
Gustavson’s Eunuch Maker pay-per-view website shared images of people undergoing “dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing surgeries” carried out in people’s homes, netting him more than £300,000 between 2017 and 2021, the court heard.
Gustavson, 46, of Haringey, north London, was jailed for at least 22 years in May after admitting charges including conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.
Judge Lucraft sentenced the other five men – Janus Atkin, David Carruthers, Ashley Williams, Damien Byrnes and Jacob Crimi-Appleby – to between three years, eight months and 12 years in prison for their roles in the extreme body modification scheme.
Lawyers for the six defendants asked the Court of Appeal on Tuesday for the green light to appeal the length of the prison sentence.
At a brief hearing at London’s central court, three senior judges said the sentences could be appealed.
His Honor Justice Murray, sitting with Lord Justice Edis and Judge Shaun Smith KC, said that although this was “fortunately a highly unusual case” the appeal was “arguable”.
The Old Bailey heard earlier this year that extreme body modification was linked to a subculture in which men had their penises and testicles removed, becoming “nullos”, short for genital revocation.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said Gustavson was linked to at least 29 procedures and there was “clear evidence of cannibalism”. Footage shown to the court also revealed the freezer was full of body parts stored in plastic bags and takeaway containers.
The court heard the defendants used a wide range of tools, such as handcuffs to castrate the animals, and their body parts were auctioned online using a “buy now” button.
Gustavson also offered to sell the severed penis of one of his victims for hundreds of pounds; around 22,000 subscribers were paying to access videos on the Eunuch Maker website, with membership levels ranging from ‘free’ to ‘VIP’, costing £100.
The Norwegian was arrested and detained after using a hot iron to brand the letters EM, which stands for Eunuch Maker, on a man’s calf before police found his penis in a drawer at his home in Haringey, north London, four years ago. after amputation.
Gustavson, who attended Tuesday’s hearing via a video link, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm, five counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, taking and distributing an indecent photograph of a child and possessing criminal property.
Other defendants also admitted to taking part in the conspiracy involving 13 victims.
Atkin, 39, Carruthers, 61, and Williams, 33, of Newport, Gwent, were sentenced to 12 years, 11 years and four years and six months respectively for conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.
Byrnes, 37, of north London, and Crimi-Appleby, 24, of Epsom, Surrey, were jailed in January after admitting causing grievous bodily harm to Gustavson.
Byrnes was sentenced to five years in prison on video of him removing Gustavson’s penis with a kitchen knife at his home on February 18, 2017.
Crimi-Appleby was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison in February 2019 for the freezing of Gustavson, which led to the amputation of his leg.
Sentencing earlier this year, Judge Mark Lucraft KC told Gustavson: “The evidence suggests that you are the mastermind behind this grisly and gruesome enterprise. Like you to assist in what has become a large-scale, dangerous and deeply disturbing enterprise.” like-minded people were hired by Gustavson.
“The operations were carried out using amateur and dangerous methods; In some cases, this is little more than human butchery. Some procedures were explicitly sexual or carried overt sexual overtones. “Many procedures clearly caused great distress, and some resulted in the need for urgent medical attention.”
He added: “I am completely satisfied that the motivation of everyone involved was a mixture of sexual gratification as well as financial reward.”
On Tuesday, Mr Justice Murray said the three judges were “satisfied that it was at least arguable” that Judge Lucraft’s use of sentencing guidelines with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was “wrong in principle”. non-consensual crimes”.
He added that it was arguable that “the judge did not give sufficient weight to the fact that almost all the victims… appeared satisfied with the outcome of their body modifications.”
The full appeal will take place at a later date.