'Staggeringly stupid' man tattooed children
Northumbria PoliceA "staggeringly stupid" man who tattooed three children has been jailed for three years.
Patrick Coe's victims thought he was giving them temporary tattoos but he had actually permanently disfigured them, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
His actions with a home kit resulted in the children suffering pain and having to take medication in case of infections, the court heard.
Coe, 31 and of Grafton House in Newcastle, admitted three counts of child cruelty.
The children complained of being in pain while Coe was tattooing them and his claim the small designs would fade had proved to be false, judge Sarah Mallett said.
The children had to be taken to hospital and given preventative antibiotics for hepatitis and tetanus, while one of the children had a minor infection as a result of Coe's actions, the court heard.
When he was arrested, Coe claimed he "didn't see anything wrong" with what he had done, the judge said, although he had since shown some remorse.
Judge Mallett said the tattoos were a "cosmetic disfigurement" and "permanent injury" which the children "didn't choose to have".
"This was a staggeringly stupid thing to do," the judge told Coe.