Man Sent To Prison For Tattooing a Penis on Unsuspecting Woman’s Back

Editor’s Note: This story originally ran on 7/22/16 and has been updated to reflect recent developments.

An Austrian man just learned that pranking someone can have some very serious consequences as he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for tattooing a penis and the word “fuck” on a woman’s back instead of the yin-yang symbol she requested.

The 21-year-old woman gave the unnamed offender a description of the tattoo that she wanted and was shown a sketch of the design before the man went to work tattooing her back. Austrian publication The Local describes the offender as a “hobby tattooist,” so the tattoo was not done in a reputable shop. The woman did not discover the vile tattoo on her back until she got home and took the wrap off.

The most chilling thing about the incident is the offender’s response when he was asked to justify why he tattooed the phallus and obscenity. “Just because,” the man told the court. Despicable.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned out of this case. First and foremost is that you shouldn’t be going to random “hobby tattooists” when you want to get inked. Go to a licensed tattoo shop. Leaving out the obvious sanitary issues that one may face dealing with an unlicensed tattoo artist in a random apartment, tattoo artists in a shop are professionals that would never put their livelihood at risk to do a stupid prank.

The second lesson is that there are consequences to be had for being, for lack of a better term, a complete asshole. This man had no regard or respect for the woman that had trusted him to tattoo her. It is unfathomable to us how someone could take that trust and flush it down the drain.

Lastly, incidents like this are so frustrating because they always cast a pall over the tattoo community. Every time that it looks like tattoos are finally being given their proper respect as an art some idiot comes along and does something like this and we are forced to defend the entire community. It gets exhausting.

We’re glad to see that this man will be doing some hard time for his hurtful tattoo prank. It would be even better if he was forced to pay for either laser removal or a coverup tattoo for the victim. No one should have to walk around for the rest of their days wearing a tattoo like that.

UPDATE: It looks like the coverup that we were begging for is going to be coming to fruition. Danny ShoeStar, a tattooer from Vienna, is going to be doing his part to get rid of the disgusting tattoo, according to Tattoodo. As you’ll see in the photo below ShoeStar is planning on doing a watercolor style dancing woman on the victim’s back. It’s heartwarming to see a tattooer stepping up to help an unfortunate person get rid of a vile tattoo that’s very existence must weigh on her emotionally every day that it is there. Hats off to you Mr. ShoeStar, we look forward to seeing the finished product and will share it with you as soon as we do.