Jackson Rowsell, a 19-year-old illegal tattoo artist from Portsmouth, England receives a jail sentence after he misspelled a tattoo on an underage girl and used Jack Daniels as a cleanser.
A 13-year-old girl, who has not been named due to legal reasons, responded to Rowsell's £20 tattoo ad on Facebook and decided to get a tattoo. The victim was accompanied by a 16-year-old friend to the unlicensed tattoo artist's residence where she got the "amateurish" tattoo on her neck.
The 13-year-old victim suggests that her mother did not want her to get a tattoo until she was a bit older. Despite confirming her age and revealing that she is getting a tattoo without her parents' permission, the tattoo artist agreed to give her a tattoo. The victim revealed that before giving her a tattoo on the neck, Rowsell seemed to have sprayed Jack Daniels whiskey on her skin as a cleanser.
Unfortunately, Rowsell was unable to give a good tattoo to his victim and she dislikes it. The victim was also concerned that she may have contracted some disease as Rowsell was not licensed and may have used equipment that was not sanitized properly.
The victim has undergone hepatitis and HIV testing and fortunately the results are negative for both diseases. However, she has to keep her hair down to hide the tattoo.
The victim revealed to county officers that she was extremely upset partially because of the tattoo but primarily because of the worry the entire episode has caused to her family. The victim revealed that her mother was in disbelief when she showed her tattoo and her father wanted to kill the tattoo artist.
Steve Bell, environmental health team leader at the Portsmouth City Council, re-iterated the importance of getting a tattoo from a licensed tattoo artist.
"A registered tattooist has to undergo hygiene checks and knows the law - for example, that it's illegal to tattoo under-18s. And as the victim in this case found out, a dodgy tattooist is also likely to do a sloppy job on the design," says Bell.
The Portsmouth Crown Court has revealed that Rowsell has admitted physical assault, tattooing an underage person, running a business from home and running an unlicensed tattoo business. Rowsell has been sentenced to eight months in jail and 120 hours of community service. The unlicensed tattoo artist has also been ordered by the court to pay £300 as compensation to the 13-year-old victim.
The Portsmouth City Council has not disclosed the description of the tattoo in order to preserve the identity of the child.
