‘Eunuch maker’ extreme body modification ring could challenge judgments and court rules

Six jailed members of a lucrative ‘human slaughter’ enterprise can challenge the length of their sentences, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Mastermind Marius Gustavson and his acolytes carried out male castration, penis removal and other “grisly and gruesome” procedures on people as young as 16 on an unprecedented scale, the Old Bailey heard when they were sentenced earlier this year.

Gustavson’s pay-per-view website Eunuch Maker shared images of people undergoing “dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing operations” carried out in people’s homes, the court was told, which earned him more than £300,000 between 2017 and 2021.

Gustavson, 46, from Haringey, north London, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years in May after admitting charges including conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

Judge Lucraft sentenced the five other men – Janus Atkin, David Carruthers, Ashley Williams, Damien Byrnes and Jacob Crimi-Appleby – to prison terms of three years to eight months and 12 years for their part in the extreme body modification plot.

Lawyers for the six defendants asked the Court of Appeal on Tuesday for the green light to challenge the length of the prison sentences.

During the brief hearing at the central London court, three senior judges said the sentences could be appealed.

Mr Justice Murray, joined by Lord Justice Edis and Judge Shaun Smith KC, said that while it was “fortunately a highly unusual case”, the appeal was “arguable”.

The Old Bailey heard earlier this year that extreme body modification is linked to a subculture in which men become ‘nullos’, short for genital destruction, by having their penis and testicles removed.

Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said Gustavson was involved in at least 29 proceedings and there was “clear evidence of cannibalism”. Footage shown to the court also showed his freezer was filled with body parts stored in plastic bags and takeaway containers.

The court heard the defendants used a wide variety of tools, such as clamps used to castrate animals, with body parts auctioned online with a ‘buy it now’ button.

Gustavson also offered to sell the severed penis of one of his victims for hundreds of pounds, with some 22,000 subscribers paying to access videos on the Eunuch Maker website with varying membership levels from ‘free’ to ‘VIP’, which cost £ 100 cost.

The Norwegian was arrested after using a red-hot iron to brand a man’s calf with the letters EM – for Eunuch Maker – and after he was apprehended, police found his penis in a drawer of his home in Haringey, North London. after it was amputated.

Gustavson, who attended Tuesday’s hearing via video link, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, taking and distributing an indecent photograph of a child, and possessing criminal property.

The other suspects have also admitted their part in the plot against thirteen victims.

Atkin, 39, Carruthers, 61, and Williams, 33, from Newport, Gwent, were jailed for 12 years, 11 years and four years and six months respectively for conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

Byrnes, 37, from north London, and Crimi-Appleby, 24, from Epsom, Surrey, were jailed in January after admitting causing grievous bodily harm to Gustavson.

Byrnes received a five-year prison sentence for removing Gustavson’s penis with a kitchen knife on video at his home on February 18, 2017.

Crimi-Appleby was jailed for three years and eight months for freezing Gustavson’s leg, forcing it to be amputated in February 2019.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC told Gustavson earlier this year: “Based 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 undertaking.

“The procedures were carried out in an amateurish and dangerous manner, in some cases amounting to little more than human slaughter. 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 fully convinced that the motivation of all involved was a mixture of sexual gratification and financial reward.”

On Tuesday, Mr Murray said the three judges were “satisfied that it was at least arguable” that it was “wrong in principle” for Judge Lucraft to deliberately use sentencing guidelines for grievous bodily harm, “which by definition are non-consensual crimes ”.

He went on to say that it was arguable that “the judge did not give sufficient weight to the fact that almost all of the victims… appeared to be satisfied with the outcome of the body modifications they underwent.”

The full appeal will take place at a later date.