Two men have admitted removing the body parts of a man who is accused of carrying out castrations and broadcasting the footage on his “eunuch maker” website.
Warning: The following article contains details of a graphic nature
Nurse Nathan Arnold, from South Kensington, west London, admitted the partial removal of Marius Gustavson’s nipple in the summer of 2019 and stealing medicine from the hospital where he worked in 2016.
Damien Byrnes, from Tottenham, north London, admitted removing Gustavson’s penis on 18 February 2017.
Arnold, 48, and Byrnes, 35, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on Wednesday to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to 45-year-old Gustavson.
Arnold also pleaded guilty to the theft of local anaesthetic lidocaine from the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and accepted a further offence of possessing extreme pornography.
Gustavson, who is originally from Norway, is said to have been the ringleader in a wide-ranging conspiracy, involving up to 29 offences of extreme body modifications, the removal of body parts, the trade in body parts and the uploading of videos.
The Metropolitan Police have said the charges relate to 13 alleged victims.
His alleged “right-hand man”, Peter Wates, 66, from Croydon in south London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2022.
Wates was alleged to have been involved with nine of the 29 incidents.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC told the court Wates was a “key player who had a role as a surgeon in a very large number of procedures”.
The three defendants appeared in court alongside Gustavson and five other defendants who were not asked to enter pleas.
They are alleged to have performed extreme body modifications, including the removal of penises and testicles.
Procedures were allegedly filmed and uploaded to the “eunuch maker” website Gustavson ran, and subscribers would pay to watch.
Romanian national Ion Ciucur, 29, is said to have been involved in two incidents in the alleged conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.
Other alleged conspirators are David Carruthers, 60, Janus Atkin, 38, and Ashley Williams, 31 – who are all from Newport in Gwent, South Wales.
Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 22, from Epsom, Surrey, who is accused of freezing Gustavson’s leg requiring amputation, is charged with causing GBH with intent.
The defendants are said to have been part of a society in which people willingly undergo extreme body modification.
The practice is linked to a subculture where men become “nullos” – short for genital nullification – by having their penis and testicles removed.
The Metropolitan Police previously said in a statement: “We encourage anyone who has had similar experiences to seek medical advice from their local sexual health clinic or GP.”
Judge Mark Lucraft KC set a further hearing for 31 May and a plea and case management hearing on 30 June.
