Three members of a body modification cult who removed the leg, penis and nipple of their leader, known as ‘The Eunuch Maker’, face jail.
Former nurse Nathaniel Arnold, 48, Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 23, and male prostitute Damien Byrnes, 36, all removed the body parts of now wheelchair-bound Norwegian Marius Gustavson.
Gustavson, 46, led the body modification scheme, which raised up to £200,000 through livestreaming online procedures.
Arnold, Crimi-Appleby and Brynes admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Crimi-Appleby froze Gustavson’s leg requiring amputation, Brynes removed his penis with a vegetable knife, while Arnold was involved in the partial removal of his nipple.
Marius Gustavson (pictured) 46, led the body modification scheme, which raised up to £200,000 through livestreaming online procedures
Arnold also admitted stealing lidocaine while working as a nurse at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on February 21, 2019, and possessing extreme pornographic images.
The practice is linked to a subculture in which men become ‘nullos’ – short for genital destruction, by having their penis and testicles removed.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry, QC, told the court that Byrnes removed Gustavson’s penis on February 18, 2017, at Gustavson’s home in Grand Parade, Tottenham.
Byrnes was initially hired by Gustavson for escort services and in December 2016 he agreed to remove his penis for a fee of £500, saying he was in debt.
While texting Gustavson, he said, “I don’t have a problem with it, but don’t you want to lose a lot of blood*, like you’re about to die?”
Gustavson then said, “So plan for Friday. I’ll be ready with a local anesthetic and a band to reduce the bleeding.
‘Then you come in. Money on desk. I’m lying in bed, legs tied. Make sure the gag is secure and brutally tie me up. Then remove the knife from the nut bag. Then cut off. Then let me go.’
Byrnes told Gustavson that he was “actually a little excited” and asked for a copy of the video he would make for himself.
He said: ‘If anything goes wrong during or after, you’ve done it to yourself, just to be on the safe side. I won’t get into trouble here.’
He said he would wear a balaclava so his face would not appear in the video.
But on January 7, 2017, Gustavson had the fee reduced to £50.
Byrnes said, “I’ve had enough men. I’ll cut off your dick and balls for 50 sh*tty quid when I was told it was 500*.
Jacob Crimi-Appleby (pictured) froze Gustavson’s leg, requiring amputation
A week later he said: ‘Today is the day, man. Cut cut. Come on, I want 500. You want this. The investor wants to look.’
He then asked for £1,000 to have sex and then castrate Gustavson.
Gustavson responded that the procedure was “a F*ING BIG THING” and Byrnes criticized him for “terrible excuses.”
Ms Carberry said: ‘Over the next three weeks there were discussions about the practicalities of the procedure and whether they would have sex beforehand.
‘Mr Byrnes’ biggest concern was money. On a number of occasions, Gustavson arranged a date but withdrew shortly beforehand.
‘It is clear that this was a significant source of frustration for Byrnes, who chased the money owed to him and sent large numbers of messages about it.’
On February 16, Gustavson told Byrnes that he was cutting someone else and that Byrnes could be the “sexy, kinky helper.” He boasted that he had “done more than 26 boys in all, 18 of them completely finished.”
On February 18, the proceedings were recorded from two angles.
Mrs Carberry said: ‘Mr Gustavson is sitting naked on the left side of the bed with a tube in his urethra.
“Mr. Brynes asks, ‘How are you feeling?’ and Mr. Gustavson responds that he “felt nothing when I pushed the needles.” A reference to Mr. Gustavson’s self-sedation.
“There is a discussion going on about Mr. Gustavson being bound and gagged. Byrnes then ties him to the bed by his wrists and ankles. A band is visible around the base of his penis, designed to cut off blood flow.
“Byrnes places a gag around Mr. Gustavson’s head and mouth and he kneels at the foot of the bed between Mr. Gustavson’s legs. He is wearing gloves and holding a red kitchen knife in his right hand.
“Mr. Gustavson’s body is shaking and he’s saying ‘No, no.’ Other evidence shows that this “fear” was part of an action on camera.”
Byrnes then removed the penis.
Ms Carberry said: ‘Byrnes holds it, pulls the tube out and shows it to Mr Gustavson who, once untied, tells Mr Byrnes to place the severed penis on his stomach, which he does.
‘Mr Byrnes then lifts the severed penis and holds it to Mr Gustavson’s face. Mr. Gustavson licks the end of it and declares it “amazing.”
Gustavson said his wound “looks good,” but his breathing becomes irregular and his right arm is shaking, then his legs.
“Mr. Byrnes tells him, ‘Chill out.’ He then instructs Byrnes to get a clamp from the top drawer for him, which he does, and he places it towards the stump of his severed penis.
‘Mr Byrnes is heard saying, ‘Well, that’s one off the bucket list. I never expected that.”
‘Mr Gustavson does not answer and continues to work on the wound site.
‘Mr. Gustavson continues to work on the wound and says: “I don’t feel like going to the hospital.” He tells Byrnes he did a good job.”
After Byrnes left, Gustavson called an ambulance and told the operator, “I tried to do surgery on my c*ck” and that it was “a little more than a circumcision.”
Nathan Arnold (pictured) was involved in the partial removal of Gustavson’s nipple
He was taken to Whittington Hospital for treatment and treated for a urethral infection.
After the procedure, Gustavson did not pay Byrnes and he threatened to go to the police and tell them that Gustavson castrated a 16-year-old.
Gustavson said he would report Byrnes for “threats, blackmail and cutting off my c*ck.”
He said he checked with his lawyer to see if what he had done was legal, but what Byrnes did was illegal.
He also said police were aware of the website euncuhmakers.com.
Between 2016 and 2018, Gustavson sent Byrnes money 27 times.
Byrnes told police that Gustavson had advertised for someone to help him become a eunuch on GROWLR, a gay dating app for “bears” — a larger and hairier gay man.
He claimed he threw up on the way home after having the procedure done.
He cried as he admitted he was a prostitute and said his motive was purely financial.
The operations were uploaded to Gustavson’s ‘Eunuch Maker’ website, which subscribers had to pay for.
The conspiracy is said to have involved 29 extreme body modifications involving 13 alleged victims who are protected by specialist detectives.
Crimi-Appleby, from Epsom, Surrey, Arnold, from South Kensington, and Byrnes, from Tottenham, admitted causing GBH with intent.
Gustavson, of Tottenham, North London, admits conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of possessing criminal property, namely money, and will appear before the court this afternoon appear in court.
He also admits making and distributing two indecent videos of a child between January 2017 and January 2020.
David Carruthers, 60, and Janus Atkin, 37, from South Wales, deny conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.
Gustavson’s alleged ‘right hand’ surgeon Peter Wates, 66, has admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.
As a surgeon, he would play a major role in a large number of procedures.
Romanian Ion Ciucur, 28, who works at a hotel in Gretna Green, Scotland, admits deliberately causing GBH in relation to two changes.
Ashley Williams, 31, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Atkin at his home in Newport, South Wales, on November 7, 2017.
German Stefan Scharf, 61, is charged with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.
He is accused of participating in a single procedure by removing a testicle at a Camden apartment in July 2019.
Gustavson, Scharf and Ciucur are taken into custody, while the others are on conditional bail, which includes a curfew and residency permit.
Judge Mark Lucraft QC, the Recorder of London, will sentence the trio later today.
