A teenage girl’s plans to have a Helen Flanagan-style tattoo of Marilyn Monroe became a nightmare after the finished ‘artwork’ looked like — a “blow up sex doll”.
Siobhan Fields,16, paid £50 for the image of Marilyn to be inked on her left arm but said the end result was simply a “monstrosity”.
The heartbroken hairdresser said tattooist Dave Stewart – who does not have a council licence to operate – originally agreed to refund her money but then blocked her on Facebook.
She has now reported him to police and warned other potential victims to steer clear of the tattoo artist.
Siobhan, of Burnbank, Hamilton, Scotland, said: “It’s horrible. It’s so embarrassing. I’ve had to go out and buy loads of long-sleeved shirts because I don’t want anyone to see it.
“I love Marilyn Monroe. She was absolutely beautiful – but this tattoo makes her look more like a blow-up doll.
“Her mouth is just a black blob, the eyes are circles, her eyes are two dots. She has black hair, the eyebrows are all wrong and there are wobbly lines everywhere.”
Siobhan’s ordeal began after she found Dave’s ‘Intenze Tattoos’ on Facebook and – impressed by the artwork on display – booked a session.
She said: “Alarm bells should have started ringing when he said he would do it round at my house.
“I showed him to the picture of Marilyn and he seemed very confident that he could match it.
“I booked an appointment and during the session I didn’t look at my arm because I’m not good with pain so I was just closing my eyes and gritted my teeth.
“When it was finished, after about 90 minutes, I looked in the mirror and just felt total shock. But he was quite an intimidating guy, with tattoos all over his face so I didn’t want to confront him at the time.
“Then I felt that I had just paid #50 for this guy to basically disfigure me for life.
“Later on I contacted him and asked if he could refund my money and at first he agreed but then he blocked me on Facebook and cut off all contact.
“It’s just one sorry looking mess and now I have to live with it. It’s going to cost around #300 to have it covered up by a proper tattoo artist.”
Stewart was unreachable for comment. The Facebook page for Dave’s Intenze Tattoos has been taken down.
A spokesman for South Lanarkshire Council said: “Intenze Tattoos does not hold a licence within the South Lanarkshire Council area.
“The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Skin Piercing and Tattooing) Order 2006 gives Local Authorities the power to license individuals who carry out skin piercing or tattooing activities as a business.
“The Order lays out a number of requirements aimed at reducing, if not removing, risks to public health from these practices.
“As well as setting out criteria that operators must adhere to, the Act also prohibits the tattooing of people under the age of 18 years and restricts the activity of skin piercing on people under the age of 16 years unless accompanied by a person with parental rights.
“A person carrying out the activity of skin piercing or tattooing without a licence shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine.”
A Strathclyde Police spokesman said: “We would urge anyone considering body art, including tattooing, to thoroughly check the artist’s credentials.
“Artists operate under a local authority-granted licence which should be displayed.”
