‘Please don’t punish me’: complainant allegedly begs for more body modifications
A NSW woman whose genitalia was allegedly mutilated by a body modifier begged him “please do not punish me” when he refused to perform more surgeries on her, a court heard.
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A NSW woman whose genitalia was allegedly mutilated with a “branding iron” by a body modifier said he’d ruined her life when he refused to operate on her anymore, a court heard.
Prominent modifier BSlice, whose real name is Brendan Russell, allegedly claimed he’s “better than a doctor” but denies removing the client’s labia minora five years ago and will face trial later this year.
In a separate trial now underway Luna Cobra, also known as Howard Rollins, has pleaded not guilty to coaching him through the surgery in January 2015, and allegedly warned a client: “Brendan is going to kill someone one day.”
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On Wednesday Russell’s former employee told Downing Centre District Court the complainant kept pressing Russell to fix her labia for a year, until he banned her from getting any further procedures in an email declaring: “we are done. Goodbye.”
The alleged victim replied saying: “you have ruined my whole life today. Body modifications is a huge part of my life,” the court heard.
“You have crushed my passion, you have made me feel bad about my identity. Please do not punish me,” the complainant allegedly wrote.
Sydneysider Rollins was 40 when he allegedly instructed Russell during the painful operation which left the victim scarred.
The witness, who worked at Russell’s Newcastle parlour, said he’d agreed to trim the complainant's labia further following her “reconstruction”, for which he usually charges $2,000.
But Russell told her to wait one year for the scar tissue to soften, and during that time the complainant paid “a small fortune” on body implants, scarifications, a tongue split, and piercings, the court heard.
The former worker, who cannot be named, agreed she told Russell’s ex-girlfriend he was “trying to convince the world” he didn’t perform the surgery, “but he did.”
The witness said Russell also contacted her through another woman with an order to tell police that Rollins did the procedure and not him, which she refused.
“He told me about it. He showed me photos… so don’t go saying to me that I can get taken down for it,” the ex-worker allegedly replied.
John Brady told the court he met Rollins and Russell at a tattoo show when they were helping with a suspension display where a person was “flying through the air with fish hooks”.
It was at that same expo that Mr Brady met the complainant, who he said revealed that Russell performed her surgery alone and that “she was happy with the job, she loved it.”
“She told me that Howie did not do it,” he said.
Mr Brady, a Queensland-based tradie who built Russell’s studio, said he sometimes assisted him with body modifications when he visited Brisbane.
The court heard Rollins has tattooed the whites of Mr Brady’s eyeballs black, split his tongue, inserted magnets into his fingers and removed his navel - all without anesthetic at his request.
“He’s got it in a bottle in resin... it's a mantlepiece decoration,” Judge Ian Bourke said of Mr Brady’s belly button.
“Would you like to see?” Mr Brady asked the prosecutor.
“Ah, no,” Crown prosecutor Georgia Turner replied.
Mr Brady said he hasn’t spoken to Rollins for three years after he cut ties with anyone still in contact with Russell, saying “Brendan is going to kill someone one day.”
Russell is also charged with the manslaughter of another client after he allegedly implanted a snowflake in the back of her hand and it became fatally infected. He has pleaded not guilty and Rollins has not been charged with any involvement.
The court heard Russell bragged to Mr Brady he was “better than a doctor” but the builder wants his body modifications done by Rollins.
“I wish I could get more from him, but he terminated the friendship so I’m unable to,” he said while giving evidence via video link.
Mr Brady said Rollins once refused to give him a scrotum piercing, saying “he doesn’t like doing genital work.”
Mr Brady, who goes by the nickname Ox, has an O and an X implanted on his hands which he flashed at the screen as his testimony finished.
The trial continues.
