A smooth-talking self-proclaimed extreme body modification artist could walk from jail in three years after an appeal court excised a rare conviction.
Brendan Leigh Russell, also known as BSlice, was jailed over three procedures, including one in which a woman died after her implanted hand became infected.
Before her 2017 death, the 30-year-old woman had asked the man she considered a "god" to insert a silicon snowflake into the back of her hand.
Russell was found guilty of manslaughter after deterring her from seeking medical treatment.
But another of his convictions - for the rarely applied charge of female genital mutilation - was quashed on Friday.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal agreed with Russell that the High Court had effectively restricted the law to ritualistic procedures on girls.
The 42-year-old, who had no medical qualifications, had long argued his consensual excision of another woman's labia in his tattoo studio in 2015 was legal.
His lawyer warned convicting Russell would have flow-on effects for cosmetic surgeons performing labiaplasties for non-health reasons.
Before his arrest in 2018, Russell had performed various piercing and body modification procedures in Newcastle and the NSW Central Coast region including metal implants, ear cutting, belly button removal and scarification.
Scarification is the etching, cutting or branding of flesh into a design that creates an inkless tattoo-like scar.
Claiming at times to have a "full extensive surgical background", Russell was painted by one crown witness as a smooth-talking, confident operator hellbent on convincing customers to submit to experimental procedures.
His judge-alone District Court trial in 2021 was told Russell was talked out of a lot of surgeries and procedures, including attempting to remove the wisdom teeth of a "nervous young girl".
Russell was unsuccessful in appealing his convictions for manslaughter and grievous bodily harm with intent.
The latter conviction related to a woman who paid $800 for a tummy tuck and was later hospitalised in 2016.
Initially jailed for 10 years, Russell was resentenced to seven years with a non-parole period of five years and three months.
He will be eligible for parole in December 2026.
