Nine men have appeared in court over offences relating to “extreme body modifications” by removing men’s penises and testicles.
Marius Theodore Gustavson, from Tottenham, is among eight others who are alleged to have performed the extreme modifications on 13 alleged victims.
The procedures were filmed and uploaded to the eunuch maker website he ran, and subscribers would pay to watch, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard on Wednesday.
Gustavson, 45, 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.
He was charged with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent between January 1, 2016 and January 1 last year and five counts of causing GBH to five alleged victims.
The GBH charges include the removal of a man’s penis, the clamping of another’s testicles and freezing of a leg which required amputation.
He is further charged with acquiring or possessing criminal property, making an indecent image of a child and distributing an indecent image of a child.
The court heard Gustavson, who appeared in the dock in a wheelchair, has had his own leg, penis and nipple removed.
He appeared alongside Peter Wates, 65, from Purley in south London, who is charged with conspiracy to cause GBH with intent.
Wates is alleged to have been involved in nine of the 29 incidents while Romanian national Ion Ciucur, 28, who works in a hotel in Gretna Green, Scotland, is said to have been involved in two.
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Ciucur, who appeared separately, faces the same count of conspiracy to cause GBH and all three men were remanded in custody ahead of their next appearance at the Old Bailey on April 19.
Three other men – David Carruthers, 60, Janus Atkin, 37, and Ashley Williams, 31 – who are all from Newport, in Gwent, South Wales, appeared at Newport Magistrates’ Court, charged with being involved in the same conspiracy.
They were granted bail and will appear at the Old Bailey on the same date for a plea hearing.
Damien Byrnes, 35, from Tottenham, Nathan Arnold, 47, from South Kensington, and Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 22, from Epsom, also appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday each charged with a single offence of causing GBH with intent.
Arnold is alleged to have removed Gustavson’s nipple, Byrnes is accused of removing Gustavson’s penis and Crimi-Appleby is accused of freezing Gustavson’s leg requiring amputation.
They were each granted bail and will also appear at the Old Bailey with their co-defendants next month.
None of them have entered pleas to any of the charges.
The group is 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 Met said in a statement: “We encourage anyone who has had similar experiences to seek medical advice from their local sexual health clinic or GP.”
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