Inside the world of extreme body modification

The ringleader of an extreme body modification group who was nicknamed the "eunuch maker" was due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey this week after admitting conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

Marius Gustavson, from north London, is alleged to have performed extreme body modifications, including the removal of penises and testicles, which were filmed and then streamed on his pay-per-view website.

As well as being the "mastermind" of the "lucrative" website, prosecutors in the trial of 10 men charged over their alleged participation in the so-called "Nullo" ring, claimed the Norwegian national was also a "willing victim" after agreeing to have his own penis and nipple cut off, and his leg frozen so that it had to be amputated.

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What is Nullo?

Short for genital nullification, the "bizarre – and growing – Nullo movement sees mostly male subscribers cut off their own genitals and sometimes their nipples", reported the Daily Mail.

"Many opt for a 'smoothie'," said the paper, "a procedure that leaves them with a fully smooth groin, and more than half these people use amateur 'cutters' – often doctors or vets – or do it themselves."

The "poster boy" for the Nullo movement, who "likely served as inspiration for the alleged horrific actions" in north London, is the Japanese artist Mao Sugiyama, GB News reported. 

Known by the nickname HC, Sugiyama received global attention in 2012 when, aged 22, he had his genitals removed and took to Twitter to offer them as a meal for guests. Around 70 people attended an event in Tokyo, where Sugiyama wore a chef's uniform while carefully frying his penis, testicles and scrotum on a gas cooker, before serving it garnished with parsley to five people for £160 a head. While the artist stated he was free of venereal disease, guests were made to sign a waiver that he was not responsible if they got ill. The Tokyo illustrator said the dinner was designed to raise awareness about "sexual minorities, x-gender, asexual people".

Motivations behind genital nullification vary and today there are an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 voluntary "Nullos" worldwide. A 2014 academic study into the practice found two-thirds never tell anyone they have no genitalia, including their families, said the Mail.

Is it illegal?

Cannibalism is not a crime in Japan, but Sugiyama was instead charged with indecent exposure.

In the Gustavson case in the UK, those involved in what the London Evening Standard called a "wide-ranging conspiracy" were charged with up to 29 offences of extreme body modifications, the removal of body parts, the trade in body parts and the uploading of videos.

The six-year "plot" is said to have brought in some £200,000 in income, said the paper, with 10 men charged with one or more counts of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent. Among these were Gustavson, who previously boasted that he had "done over 26 guys in total, 18 totally done", a reference to the removal of both penis and testicles, and Damien Byrnes, an escort from north London, who was filmed cutting off Gustavson's penis with a kitchen knife and saying: "Well that's one off the bucket list". Byrnes, 36, pleaded guilty to causing GBH with intent and was jailed for five years in January. 

Nathaniel Arnold, 48, a nurse from west London, admitted to partially removing Gustavson's nipple in the summer of 2019 and received a two-year suspended sentence. Another man, Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 23, helped freeze Gustavson's leg in 2019, causing it to require amputation. He was jailed for three years and eight months. The court heard how Gustavson, who now uses a wheelchair, later claimed £18,500 in disability benefits.

"It is clear these procedures were done for sexual motives in addition to financial gain," the presiding judge said. "To many looking at this case, the activity will appear at the very least disgusting and abhorrent."

But, said The Standard, "all of the alleged victims are said to have been part of a society in which people willingly undergo extreme body modification".