A bungling tattoo artist has been fined nearly £30,000 after leaving a young woman blind by inking her eyeballs incorrectly.
Aleksandra Sadowska, then aged 21, went to get the whites of her eyes tattooed black at a studio she had found online in Warsaw, Poland in April 2017.
She told local media at the time: "I've always wanted tattooed eyes, I thought they suited me."
But the tattooist - named only as Piotr A in court - penetrated her eyeballs too deeply with the needle and used an ink that was uncertified for use on eyes.
She previously said: "The tattoo artist had dozens of such procedures in his portfolio. At least that's what he said.
"Then it turned out not to be true. He also claimed to have medical education, which is also doubtful."
Complications developed almost immediately.
Aleksandra developed glaucoma, followed by advanced cataracts.
She had to undergo three operations, but none brought much improvement.
One of her eyes eventually had to be replaced with an implant, while she only sees a shimmering light without contours out of the other.
Aleksandra sued the tattoo studio and now, nearly six years later, the district court in Warsaw has convicted Piotr A.
On December 20, he was found guilty of failing to provide assistance to the victim and of causing permanent disability.
The court ruled he must pay Aleksandra £28,000 (PLN 150,000) and perform 30 hours of community service per month for one year.
Following the verdict, lawyer Pawel Jagielski said: "We will consider filing an appeal.
"In our preliminary assessment, the amount of PLN 150,000 is still disproportionate to the extent of the harm suffered via severe disability in the form of total loss of sight."
