The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A 23-year-old Spalding woman has been ordered to pay more than a thousand pounds in compensation to a 14-year-old boy who she illegally tattooed.
Jordan Wheeler of Estella Way admitted the offence of tattooing the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, when she appeared before magistrates in Boston.
Prosecuting, Dale Brownless said that while he was at her house and under the influence of alcohol, he was tattooed by Ms Wheeler and that when he sobered up and told his parents, it was reported to the police.
He said that when she was interviewed, she told police she had not realised the boy was under 18, the legal age at which anyone can be given a tattoo.
Mr Brownless said Ms Wheeler kept a tattoo gun in her garage as she wanted to take up tattooing.
In mitigation, David Eager said it was the first time in his 32 years of practising law that he had come across an offence of this nature.
He said that Ms Wheeler, who has no previous convictions, had not been aware of the boy’s age.
He said the boy and some friends had gone round to Ms Wheeler’s home.
He said the boy was not drunk, so far as Ms Wheeler knew, and the boy himself decided to have the tattoo.
The magistrates ordered Ms Wheeler to pay compensation of £1,500 to the boy and £85 in court costs.
