Body modification artist ‘Dr Evil’ pleads guilty to GBH after council action

A prosecution brought by West Midlands Police and City of Wolverhampton Council has seen a body modification artist known as 'Dr Evil' plead guilty to three counts of grievous bodily harm.

Brendan Patrick McCarthy, owner of Dr Evil's Body Modification Emporium previously based in Wolverhampton, added 'body modification' to his services before carrying out extreme procedures at his tattoo parlour. 

All procedures including the removal of a customer's ear, a client's nipple and splitting a customer's tongue, were carried out without an anaesthetic, the local authority said.

Public Protection officers at the city council served a notice on McCarthy preventing him from carrying out any of his extreme services under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The council said it had engaged the expertise of a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon to advise of the risks involved in McCarthy's activities.

The expert advised that McCarthy's lack of medical training, unsuitable operating environment, lack of specialist equipment and working with untrained 'professionals', meant he was putting people at greater risk of severe bleeding, infection and life changing complications.

West Midlands Police arrested McCarthy in December 2015 on suspicion of assault and again in October 2016 for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Cllr Steve Evans, Cabinet Member for City Environment at City of Wolverhampton Council, said: "We have exposed a national issue which requires a national regulation to be introduced to protect members of the public against the risks of extreme body modification.

"Whilst I'm sure Mr McCarthy considers himself an artist, providing a service removing and cutting people's body parts without adequate medical training from unsuitable retail premises, presents a risk to the public that we are not prepared to accept.”

Cllr Evans added: "McCarthy has been undertaking significant cosmetic practices which need to be carried out in a suitable medical facility and customers need to be psychologically vetted before the procedure.

"Cosmetic surgery requires a high level of legislation and we will be asking national government to address these extreme practices that are being increasingly requested by the public."

Detective Inspector Chris Fox from West Midlands Police's Complex Investigations Unit said: "We launched an enquiry as soon as we were alerted to concerns over McCarthy's practices.

"We found he was performing complex procedures without medical training, outside a clinical environment, without knowing clients' medical histories or psychiatric background, and in the absence of any life-saving equipment should procedures have gone wrong. It was important to take action in order to protect the public.”

DI Fox added: "We also had concerns McCarthy was potentially carrying out procedures on people with psychiatric conditions like Body Dysmorphic Disorder without conducting any mental health assessments in advance."

The BBC reported that McCarthy had argued in his defence that he had consent of those undergoing the procedures.

But Judge Amjad Nawaz ruled that written consent from his customers was not sufficient defence.

The BBC said the judge also drew the distinction between body modification and tattoos and piercings, saying there is "no proper analogy".

"What the defendant undertook for reward in this case was a series of medical procedures for no medical reason," he said.

McCarthy will be sentenced on 21 March at Wolverhampton Crown Court.