Man admits removing penis of ‘eunuch maker’ accused of livestreaming castrations

Two men have admitted removing body parts from a man accused of performing castrations and shared the footage on his Eunuch Maker website.

Nurse Nathan Arnold, 48, from South Kensington, west London, admitted Marius Gustavson had his nipple partially removed and medicine stolen from the hospital where he was working in 2016 in the summer of 2019.

Damien Byrnes, 35, from Tottenham, north London, admitted removing Gustavson’s penis on February 18, 2017.

Arnold and Byrnes pleaded guilty to intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to 45-year-old Gustavson at a hearing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

Arnold also pleaded guilty to stealing the local anesthetic lidocaine from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and accepted another felony offense of possession of extreme pornography.

Norwegian-born Gustavson is said to have been the leader of a wide-ranging conspiracy involving up to 29 offenses of extreme body modification, body part removal, body parts trafficking and video uploading.

The Metropolitan Police said the charges relate to 13 alleged victims.

His alleged “right hand man”, Peter Wates, 66, of Croydon, south London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2022.

Wates is said to have been involved in nine of the 29 incidents.

Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC told the court that Wates was a “key figure who played a surgical role in a very large number of proceedings.”

The three defendants appeared in court along with Gustavson and five other defendants who were not asked to plead.

The defendants are said to have performed extreme body modifications, including the removal of penises and testicles.

The procedures were allegedly filmed and uploaded to Gustavson’s Eunuch Maker website, and subscribers paid to view them.

The accused were arrested following police raids in London, Scotland and South Wales.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC has scheduled another hearing for May 31 and a plea and case administration hearing for June 30.

He said the earliest possible date for an eight-week trial to begin at the Old Bailey is March 4 next year.

Gustavson, from Tottenham, north London, is charged with conspiracy to cause aggravated assault between 1 January 2016 and 1 January last year and five counts of aggravated assault on five alleged victims.

The GBH charges include removing one man’s penis, clamping off the testicles of another and freezing a leg that required amputation.

He is also accused of acquiring or possessing criminal property, taking an indecent image of a child and posting an indecent image of a child.

Romanian national Ion Ciucur, 29, who worked at a hotel in Gretna Green, Scotland, is said to have been involved in two incidents of alleged conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

Other suspected conspirators include David Carruthers, 60, Janus Atkin, 38, and Ashley Williams, 31 – all from Newport in Gwent, South Wales.

Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 22, of Epsom, Surrey, who is accused of freezing Gustavson’s amputated leg, is accused of willfully causing GBH.

The defendants are said to have been part of a society in which people voluntarily undergo extreme body modifications.

The practice is linked to a subculture in which men become “nulos” — short for genital annulment — by having their penises and testicles removed.

The Metropolitan Police previously said in a statement: “We encourage anyone who has had a similar experience to seek medical advice from their local sexual health clinic or GP.”

Gustavson, Wates and Ciucur attended court via video link from Wandsworth Prison.

The other six defendants, who are on bail, sat side by side in the dock at the Old Bailey.