Brendan Russell: Body modifier facing years in prison

A famed body modifier has been found guilty of mutilating two women after he took a branding iron to one woman’s genitals and a scalpel to another woman’s abdomen in a botched tummy tuck.

A famed body modifier has been found guilty of mutilating two women after he took a branding iron to one woman’s genitals and a scalpel to another woman’s abdomen in a botched tummy tuck.

But even as Brendan Leigh Russell was taken from his sobbing wife and into the cells he was told his fate was not yet sealed — tomorrow the court will also hear if he is guilty of manslaughter of a third woman.

Russell was a renowned leader of the obscure and confronting body modification community — a group of people who have their tongues split, eyeballs tattooed and skin scarred into intricate patterns.

But B-Slice, as Russell called himself, ended up in handcuffs after a young mum was found dead of sepsis in her Central Coast home

Russell had implanted a silicone snowflake beneath the skin of her hand and police allege his botched procedure unintentionally killed the woman.

Body modification artist Brendan Russell put a snowflake into a 30 year old woman who later died of blood poisoning. He has pleaded not guilty to her manslaughter.

District Court Judge Helen Syme is expected to hand down her verdict on the charge of manslaughter for the woman’s death later this week.

But on Monday the judge found Russell had mutilated the genitalia of another woman in January 2015.

The woman, who cannot be named, had part of her labia “excised” by Russell at the tattoo studio with a cauterising tool and scalpel.

The procedure left her in pain for 12 months and she is still unable to wear underwear, the court heard.

An expert told the court pain near the excision meant “something had gone wrong” and it would be “unexpected” for a cosmetic procedure.

Female genital mutilation charges are extremely rare in NSW.

Russell’s lawyers had argued the laws were designed to stop “ritualistic” mutilation performed on children.

Russell has been found guilty of female genital mutilation.

Members of an Indian diaspora had been convicted for performing such a ritualistic cutting of two schoolgirls in Wollongong.

Their convictions were overturned on appeal because the children were not permanently injured but the High Court overruled the appeal and ordered the convictions to stand.

Judge Syme had read the High Court’s ruling and concluded the laws were not confined to ritualistic procedures on children.

Rather any female was legally protected from genital mutilation under the laws.

She found Russell guilty of the crime which carries up to 21 years in prison.

Judge Syme also found Russell guilty of cutting into the stomach muscle of a woman causing grievous bodily harm either through his incompetence or failure of care.

Russell had talked the woman into a “tummy tuck” and essentially removed a “sausage shaped piece of flesh” before stitching her up and sending her home bleeding and in agony.

The woman eventually went to Gosford Hospital and initially tried to cover up Russell’s involvement to keep him out of trouble.

Brendan Russell arriving at the Downing Centre in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

A qualified surgeon ultimately had to urgently repair the sliced stomach fascia.

Russell’s lawyers had argued any harm he caused could not be properly assessed because other medical professionals had since intervened and replaced her ugly scar with a less awful one.

They also argued the woman had consented to the procedure so it could not be unlawful.

But the judge was not convinced of Russell’s defences

“The injury amounts very clearly to grievous bodily harm — the accused intended to cause that harm,” Judge Syme said, finding Russell guilty.

Crown Prosecutors then asked the court to detain Russell saying he had committed numerous other crimes in his life including stalking and assault with an act of indecency in 2016.

With years in prison already hanging over him, prosecutors said they feared he would not appear in court on Tuesday to hear the manslaughter verdict.

Russell’s lawyer told the court modifier’s wife was pregnant and he had been on bail for four years without incident.

He had even been on bail during Monday’s lunch hour and, despite already being found guilty of genital mutilation, had returned to court to hear the tummy tuck verdict.

They would also push for Russell to serve prison time in the community, the court heard.

But Judge Syme said it was “just about unavoidable” that Russell would serve his time behind bars.

His risk of fleeing had increased exponentially since he was now a guilty man, Judge Syme found, and she ordered him to be taken into custody.

“I can’t even say goodbye?” Russell’s wife sobbed as a court officer in full Covid-PPE blocked her from reaching her husband in the dock.

Judge Syme will deliver her verdict on the most serious charge against Russell — manslaughter - on Tuesday