A body modifier convicted of manslaughter after a silicon snowflake he implanted into a young woman's hands became infected has been jailed for at least seven years and six months.
Judge Helen Syme on Monday in the NSW District Court sentenced Brendan Leigh Russell to a maximum 10 years in prison for crimes she said he's shown no remorse, acceptance, or responsibility for at any time.
She said Russell lacked the skills to perform sometimes illegal procedures in unhygienic circumstances and without the required anaesthetic or medical after-care.
The 41-year-old was considered a "god" by one of his victims aged 30 when she had the implantation procedure done in his Central Coast parlour on March 20, 2017.
On April 10 he performed a second procedure on the woman, re-opening the wound and repositioning the implant, stitching it back up despite blood and puss rushing out, and the dark discolouration of her hand.
He advised against seeing a medical practitioner, and to take painkillers instead.
"Had she taken urgent medical advice even at that time she had a good prospect of survival," the judge said.
"(There is) no other conclusion to draw other than his concern was not for her welfare but for himself, his reputation, and his business as a body modifier."
An unqualified and uninterested bystander could observe the degree of pain and infection (she was in) ... It beggars belief the offender did not."
On the evening of her death from sepsis stemming from the infection, Russell again told her not to worry and to take medication, and that he would see her the next day.
He was found guilty of her manslaughter, and at his sentence hearing in June his victim's mother said she believed a monster was off the streets.
"My daughter is dead, (a child's) mother is dead and yet Brendan Russell still has not shown the slightest remorse any time nor has he accepted any responsibility.
"If (she) was here she would say 'I trusted him'."
He was also found guilty of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm by performing a quasi-medical and "clearly dangerous" abdominoplasty or "tummy tuck" on a 38-year-old woman in November 2016.
An hour after the woman returned home she awoke in agonising pain and was bleeding profusely.
The judge found he likely pierced her abdominal wall while "showing off mid-procedure" when he implanted the scalpel back into the wound.
The woman said she wished their paths had never crossed, and that she had not put her trust in a so-called professional, and so-called friend.
He was also sentenced for a third charge of female genital mutilation in Newcastle in January 2015, having used a branding iron in a procedure that left the woman unable to use tampons or wear underwear without discomfort.
Defence barrister Mark Tedeschi QC submitted that consent was a highly significant feature for the judge to consider.
The judge found consent in the manslaughter and grievous bodily harm charge consent was due to the victim's belief that Russell would safely perform the procedures.
"His hubris drove the trust which led to the consent."
He will first be eligible for parole on March 14 2029.
