Ex-vicar jailed for three years after carrying out surgery with scissors

A former vicar has been jailed for three years after admitting causing grievous bodily harm by performing an extreme body modification with scissors.

Geoffrey Baulcomb, 79, of East Sussex and formerly of St Mary’s, Eastbourne, carried out the procedure on a man on January 4, 2020, a nine-second video of which was later recovered by police. He pleaded guilty to the GBH offence and was sentenced at the Old Bailey.

Officers searching Baulcomb’s Eastbourne home seized surgical tools, medical supplies, drugs and a Burdizzo clamp, a device sometimes used to crush tissue. Prosecutors said Baulcomb attempted to dispose of his phone in a toilet during the search but failed to destroy it; investigators were able to download material from the device that proved incriminating.

The court heard Baulcomb had been in contact with a Norwegian man, Marius Gustaffson, who styled himself the “Eunuch Maker.” Prosecutors said the two exchanged thousands of messages. A nine-second video recovered from Baulcomb’s phone showed the procedure that led to the GBH charge.

In addition to the GBH admission, Baulcomb previously admitted offences relating to indecent material. Those convictions include distributing an indecent photo of a child in 2020, three counts of making indecent images of children on or before 2022, and three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images. The sentences for those offences were taken into account by the court when determining Baulcomb’s overall sentence.

The case raises questions about unregulated extreme body modification and the risks when surgical procedures are carried out outside licensed medical settings. Police and prosecutors said the items seized and the digital evidence formed the basis for the prosecution.

Baulcomb’s conviction and sentence follow an investigation by local police after material and reports came to light. The identity of the man who underwent the procedure has not been disclosed by authorities. The Old Bailey imposed a three-year custodial sentence for the GBH offence, reflecting the severity of the harm caused during an unauthorised surgical intervention.

Local authorities and law enforcement continue to warn against seeking invasive body modification from unlicensed practitioners. Where criminality is suspected, police said they will investigate and, where appropriate, pursue prosecutions to protect vulnerable people and uphold public safety.