A body modifier has shown no remorse, acceptance or responsibility for causing the death of a young woman and disfiguring two others, a judge said in jailing him for at least seven years and six months.
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Judge Helen Syme on Monday in the NSW District Court sentenced Brendan Leigh Russell to a maximum 10 years in prison saying he lacked the skills to perform sometimes illegal procedures in unhygienic circumstances and without the required anaesthetic or medical aftercare.
The 41-year-old "self-proclaimed extreme body modification artist" was considered a "god" by a 30-year-old woman when he implanted a silicone snowflake into the back of her hand at his NSW Central Coast parlour on March 20, 2017.
She told Russell on at least three occasions her hand had become discoloured and swollen, and she was in extreme pain.
On April 10 he re-opened the wound and repositioned the implant, stitching it back up despite blood and puss rushing out.
This manipulation likely caused the infection to spread further throughout her body and via her blood stream, the judge said.
And again he dissuaded her from seeing a doctor and told her migraine medication would suffice, potentially numbing the effect of the septicemia when it had reached her organs.
"Had she taken urgent medical advice even at that time she had a good prospect of survival," the judge said.
"(There is) no other conclusion to draw other than his concern was not for her welfare but for himself, his reputation, and his business as a body modifier.
"An unqualified and uninterested bystander could observe the degree of pain and infection (she was in) ... It beggars belief the offender did not."
At his sentence hearing in June the victim's mother said she believed a monster was off the streets.
"My daughter is dead, (a child's) mother is dead and yet Brendan Russell still has not shown the slightest remorse any time nor has he accepted any responsibility.
"If (she) was here she would say 'I trusted him'."
He was also found guilty of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm by performing a quasi-medical and "clearly dangerous" abdominoplasty or "tummy tuck" on a 38-year-old woman in November 2016.
An hour after the woman returned home she awoke in agonising pain and was bleeding profusely.
The judge found he likely pierced her abdominal wall while "showing off mid-procedure" when he implanted the scalpel back into the wound.
She presented to hospital after three weeks for corrective surgery, and said the permanent scarring is a reminder of the traumatic ordeal.
The woman in her own statement to the court said she wished she had never put her trust in a so-called professional, and so-called friend.
He was sentenced for a third charge of female genital mutilation in Newcastle in January 2015, having used a branding iron in a procedure that left the woman unable to use tampons or wear underwear without discomfort.
"The degree of mutilation suffered and the time over which she experienced pain likely the result of incompetent and unhygienic procedures," the judge said.
The judge turned to the question of consent and said it differed from the understanding of "informed consent".
"Each of the victims was an adult and aware he was not a qualified medical practitioner.
"However, in two offences he convinced each complainant he was sufficiently skilled to perform the procedures safely."
Russell's hubris and misplaced self-confidence in his abilities drove the trust his victims had in him, the judge said.
Russell will first be eligible for parole on March 14, 2029.
Australian Associated Press