A man who thought he was getting a tattoo of a Chinese symbol on his back was in fact being inked with a 40cm-long penis.
The cruel prank in Queensland, Australia, cost a backyard tattoo artist and his assistant jail time and left the victim a broken man.
On Friday Christopher William Lord, 23, was sentenced in Ipswich District Court after pleading guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and in company. He was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with a parole release date of March 12.
Lord was charged with assisting friend Matthew Francis Brady, 24, tattoo a 40cm-long penis on another man’s back after the group spent an afternoon drinking at Brady’s Ebbw Vale home in October 2010.
Brady was sentenced in 2011 for his role in the crime. He received 12 months in prison, suspended after three months, and three years probation.
At the time Brady pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, assault occasioning bodily harm and performing a high-risk service without holding an infection control qualification.
The Queensland Times http://www.qt.com.au/news/prison-term-imposed-for-appalling-tattoo-offence/2171726/ reports the court was told Brady accused the victim, who is on a disability pension, of raping a girl, which he denied. The court was then told Lord hit the man in the groin.
While the three men were drinking, Brady and Lord convinced the victim to let Brady tattoo him.
Agreeing to have a yin yang symbol with a dragon and tiger tattooed on his back, Brady and Lord took him into a bedroom to do the tattoo.
Lord further encouraged the man to go through with the tattoo, telling him about a girl who would have sex with him if he had it done.
Starting the tattoo, Brady’s design was wildly different from what they agreed on, drawing a penis, testicles and a misspelled slogan under it implying the man was gay.
After complaining the tattooing had hurt, the victim asked Brady to stop, but he continued, with Lord insisting the tattoo looked ‘mad’ and reassuring him that Brady was starting to draw the dragon after finishing the ying yang symbol.
When the tattoo was finished, Lord told the victim to cover the tattoo.
The three men then went into the backyard, where Brady again accused the man of raping a girl. The victim again denied this, before being assaulted by Brady.
After fleeing the property, the victim showed the tattoo to friends, who told him it was a drawing of a penis.
The Sydney Morning Herald http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/qld-man-charged-over-40cm-penis-tattoo-20101026-171fd.html reported the victim was horrified by the tattoo at the time it was done in 2010.
Ipswich Detective Constable Paul Malcolm said it was not what the victim was looking for. ‘The victim wasn’t interested (in a tattoo) at first but he was talked into it and he said he wanted a yin and yang symbol with some dragons,’ he said.
‘The bloke started doing the tattoo and there was another bloke standing there watching saying, “Mate, it’s looking really good”.’
‘He was told not to go out into the sun and not to show anyone for a few weeks. When he got home he showed it to the person he lives with and she said: “I don’t think it’s the tattoo you were after”.
An Ipswich tattoo artist has since covered up the penis tattoo after donating his services to the man.
The court heard at the time of the offence Lord was on bail for armed robbery, which he was sentenced for after this offence took place.
A Gold Coast church where Lord works tendered a reference to the court on his behalf.
Judge Greg Koppenol described the tattoo as ‘appalling’ and said Lord and Brady had taken advantage of a vulnerable man.
‘It was a miserable offence,’ Judge Koppenol said. ‘You acted miserably towards a vulnerable young man with a significant disability.’
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