"The court heard how the defendant's 'Eunuchmaker' pay-per-view website advertised services including castration, penis removal and the freezing of limbs."

I'm reading "'Eunuch-maker' mutilator jailed for 22 years" (BBC).

I first read about this case in The Daily Record, and it was so ludicrously, shockingly lurid that I didn't think I could write about it. But then I saw the BBC was covering it, so it became bloggable.

But for the sake of decency, I will put the rest after the jump:

The website showed the defendant [Marius Gustavson, 46] and his medically unqualified accomplices - six of whom were sentenced alongside him - performing a series of operations in London flats and hotel rooms on apparently willing volunteers. Some were as young as 16....

In his defence, Gustavson's legal team claimed he only wanted to "put a smile on people's faces" by offering a service to those suffering, like him, from what was described as body integrity dysphoria (BID)....

Gustavson earned almost £300,000 from his website, having amassed 22,841 visitors from across the globe who paid to view the gruesome footage, the court heard....

Gustavson moved to the UK in 2012 and was living in London in 2017 when he had his penis removed by one of his co-defendants, Damien Byrnes. Two years later he arranged to have part of his leg frozen and a nipple removed. The procedures led to "feelings of empowerment and greater acceptance of himself and feelings of contentment with his own body", Mr Panesar said.

"From there the Eunuchmaker website began. He does say he wished to put a smile on other people's faces - he wanted to help. "He was stuck in a body he wanted to make changes to, and understood there were more people out there who wished to do the same."

By the time of his arrest his involvement had become an "addiction" and he could no longer stop himself being present at the procedures and making videos, the barrister said.

That's the BBC. Here's some of what's in the Daily Record, in "Scots hotel worker jailed for role in 'eunuch maker' scheme/Ion Ciucur, 30, of Gretna, admitted he was part of the criminal ring which carried out male castration, penis removal and other 'grisly" procedures on an unprecedented scale":

Extreme body modification is linked to a subculture where men become "nullos", short for genital nullification, by having their penis and testicles removed. Previously, prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said Gustavson was linked to at least 29 procedures.

After one of them, Gustavson cooked severed testicles for lunch which he ate in a salad he had prepared for himself, she said. He had taken various pictures from "raw ingredients to an artfully arranged salad platter", Ms Carberry told the court....

During raids, officers found Gustavson's penis in a drawer in his home four years after it had been amputated. Gustavson, a Norwegian national, also had to have his leg amputated in February 2019 after getting a man to freeze it and claimed £18,000 in disability payments up until 2021.

So, not only is there cannibalism, but there's also a welfare fraud angle. 

Earlier in mitigation, Rashvinderjeet Panesar said the breakdown of Gustavson's marriage was the "trigger" for his offending. The defence barrister said: "He had a desire to be the architect of his own body. His modification led him to feelings of empowerment. It appears at face value to be something that's become an addiction for him."...

Kate Mulholland, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Marius Gustavson ignored the risks of performing unnecessary surgery on vulnerable men for sexual gratification and financial gain. He actively recruited participants through his website and was paid to stream the footage of these barbaric procedures.

"Whilst the victims in this case all seemingly consented to surgeries and amputations, the victim who bravely reported his assault to the police expressed serious regret regarding his procedure and the lasting impact it has had upon him. This clearly emphasises why such practices are unlawful.  The severity of today's sentence should act as a warning to others that performing extreme body modifications is against the law and the CPS won't hesitate to prosecute these horrendous crimes."

Anyway, good morning, blog readers.