Inside the disturbing 'cult' of extreme body modification gang where 'eunuch maker' cut off men's genitals, nipples and other limbs for 'lucrative' website that amassed more than 22,000 paying users worldwide

Weeks of evidence have lifted the lid on what is surely one of the most depraved criminal conspiracies ever to reach the Old Bailey - an extreme body modification gang who cut off men's genitals, nipples and limbs for paying online subscribers.

Through his 'Eunuch Maker' site, ringleader Marius Gustavson and other members of his 'cult' carried out at least 30 of the vile procedures on men who had been pressured and manipulated into having their bodies mangled while others watched.

But if you are thinking this is another freak oddity lurking on an obscure corner of the dark web, you'd be wrong...

Not only did the group have 22,000 paying subscribers (generating £300,000 in revenues) - they also conducted their sick trade completely in the open, with a public website accessible to anyone who stumbled upon it.

Front and centre of the whole operation was Gustavson, an 'arch manipulator' who collected a group of 'acolytes' attracted to the deviant business, according to prosecutors, by 'the sexual element of the offending and financial gain'.

The Norwegian national, who had to have his leg amputated in February 2019 after getting a man to freeze it, claimed £18,000 in disability payments up until 2021 while living in north London.

He appeared for sentencing today alongside six other members of his gang, including his 'right-hand man' Peter Wates, a retired former member of the Royal Society of Chemists, and Janus Atkin, who had been completing a veterinary course.

Also facing jail are Romanian Ion Ciucur, 30, 61-year-old German Stefan Scharf, surgical assistant David Carruthers, 61, and his boyfriend Ashley Williams, both from South Wales.

Carruthers was involved in six procedures including four testicle removals. He worked for Ceredigion and Mid Wales NHS trust from 1991 to 2002 as a 'domestic assistant' but has no medical qualifications.

The charges against the men relate to 13 victims, who are being safeguarded by specialist detectives.

Despite consenting to the procedures - often in return for the promise of payment - they were described by prosecutors and 'vulnerable' to Gustavson's manipulation.

The wide-ranging conspiracy lasted from 2017 and 2021 and involved the removal and trade of body parts, the Old Bailey heard.

The procedures were filmed and uploaded to the 'Eunuch Maker' website Gustavson ran, and subscribers paid to watch, with varying levels of membership from 'free' to 'VIP' which cost £100.

The practice is linked to a subculture where men become 'nullos', short for genital nullification, by having their penis and testicles removed.

Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC told the court that during a Facetime call with a man in Sweden, Gustavson told him to 'maim himself' by cutting off his testicles with a knife.

Gustavson told him: 'You know what to do come on, just push it.'

Three days later, he encouraged him to cut off his penis.

In one testicle removal video Gustavson can be heard saying 'that was a lot quicker than the last one' and 'such a nice cut.' He holds the removed testicle up to show the camera.

Ms Carberry said that Gustavson 'sold on' some of the removed body parts to others, including Wates.

After one procedure, she said Gustavson had 'cooked some testicles for lunch' which he ate in a salad he had prepared for himself.

Gustavson had taken various images from 'raw ingredients to an artfully arranged salad platter'.

In a video played during the hearing of another incident, one of the group's victims was branded with the letters 'EM', for eunuch maker, on the back of his calf.

The man later complained to police about Gustavson and his 'circle of acolytes' in November 2020 and an investigation was launched.

He is the only victim who has assisted the police with their enquiries.

Ms Carberry said: 'It was his report in November 2020 to police about the procedures done to him in 2019 which started this large complex police investigation.

'He told police he was high on drugs when Gustavson cut his scrotum with a scalpel.'

The victim said the procedure left his testicles injured so he then tried to get Gustavson to remove them entirely.

When he went to Gustavson's flat in September 2019 he did not remove his testicles but clamped them causing him to 'cry and howl in pain.'

In the video he can be heard saying 'what the f*** have you done to me?'

But he went back to Gustavson's flat on December 2.

Ms Carberry said: 'He thought he was attending in order to have his dead testicles cut off but that did not happen.

'What happened instead was that Gustavson used a red hot branding iron on the back of his legs. The iron had been fashioned with the initials "EM" which stands for Eunuch Maker.

'It's right to say in fact it was [the victim] who had made that branding tool for Gustavson. He at that time believed Gustavson to be his master, he being Mr Gustavson's servant.'

He told police he was a 'servant' to Gustavson and Carruthers.

On a later occasion, his testicle was taken out by Carruthers before being put back in when the surgery started to go wrong.

The victim told police: 'At this point I realise I need to see a urologist rather than a backstreet surgeon.'

He said he 'wants to kill' Gustavson, who he knew as 'Theo', for leaving his testicles 'mangled'.

'I've realised I've been trusting the wrong person and Gustavson is in fact a lunatic,' he said.

In a victim impact statement, the man said he was severely depressed when he first met Gustavson.

He said: 'I wanted out and was quite prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to change anything.

'The cult like atmosphere Gustavson propagated around himself was captivating. The persona he created for himself in the world of body modification was a masterpiece.'

He said the Eunuch Maker website 'made it all feel like a game'.

'Eunuch badges' would be given to members who had undergone a verified castration which gave them 'clout', he said.

'I remember the joy I felt when my Eunuch badge appeared on my profile,' he said.

He said Gustavson injected him with testosterone before the first procedure and he believes this was done to make him 'compliant to his manipulation..'

He said he had consented to the removal of his testicles but 'wanted out' when Gustavson brought out clamps normally used for livestock.

'I realised my mistake, I wanted out but I was strapped down, high, and unable to do anything about the situation.

'When I hear people consented I wonder what idea of consent they're going with because I sure as hell didn't consent to what happened to me that drug fuelled night.'

He said that after Carruthers put his testicle back in he realised his mistake.

'At that point I realised my mistake at long last. The scales fell form my eyes and my anger rose like fire.'

'Fury like nothing else I've felt before.

'The group of people he introduced me to was at first impression welcoming and pleasant.

'It is only with the benefit of hindsight I can see how manipulative and coercive it truly was.

'It took being away from their circle of influence to realise how under their sway I was.'

He said he was told to lie to his therapist and was 'persuaded' by the other that he had issues with his gender identity.

'I was given coaching that if castration came up to say it was a lifestyle choice and I was happy with it.'

He said he was scared to go to police as Gustavson was the 'unquestioned leader' of 22,000 people.

'Knowing I was the reason for the closure of their playground could have caused several problems.

'I'm scared of whatever remains of his followers although I am sure some have realised it needed to stop.'

After the investigation began, ten men were arrested after police raids in London, Scotland and South Wales.

Ms Carberry said police officers found Gustavson's penis 'in a drawer in his home four years after it had been amputated'.

He was also found to be in possession of beastiality pornography and had sent three indecent images of children to another man.

In one message he claimed to have castrated and had sex with an eight-year-old.

He was convicted in Norway in 1999 for fraud committed against a housing cooperative he was the chair of.

In 2001 he was sentenced to eight months imprisonment partially suspended for fraud in obtaining items over the Internet for which he did not intend to pay.

Gustavson pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of making an indecent photograph of a child, one count of distributing an indecent photograph of a child and possession of criminal property contrary to Section 329(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Ion Ciucur, 30, of Gretna, Scotland, Wates, 66, of Purley, Surrey, Stefan Scharf, 61, of no fixed address, David Carruthers 61, Atkin, 38, Ashley Williams, 32, all of Newport, Gwent, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm.

Former nurse Nathaniel Arnold, 49, Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 23, and male prostitute Damien Byrnes, 36, all admitted removing body parts from Gustavson and were jailed last year.

Crimi-Appleby, who had a sexual relationship with Gustavson after meeting him aged 17, froze his leg causing it to require amputation, Byrnes removed his penis with a vegetable knife while Arnold partially removed his nipple with a scalpel.

Byrnes was earlier jailed for five years, Crimi-Appleby for three years and eight months while Arnold was given a two year suspended sentence.

The sentencing hearing continues.