Illegal tattooist must pay £2k after raid by city officers

Michael ‘Minky’ Cain was reported to Preston Council’s environmental health department because he was advertising that he could do “cheap tattoos” from his home.

When officers visited the house in Houldsworth Road, Preston, they found that Cain had no licence to perform tattoos, that his tattoo room was dirty with stained carpets and that used needles were not being stored correctly.

Cain failed to turn up to a hearing at Preston Magistrates Court last week, and was found guilty in his absence of operating an unlicensed business.

District Judge Goodwin remarked that Cain had created a high risk of harm to the occupiers of the dwelling, customers and others such as those collecting the waste from the house. He said that the crimes were committed for financial gain and Cain had failed to heed previous warnings.

Cain was sentenced to pay £330 for each offence of failing to register as a tattooist and failing to register the premises where he carried out his business. He was also ordered to pay £33 victims’ surcharge and £1,315 prosecution costs. This made a total of £2,008.

Councillor John Swindells, Cabinet member for planning and regulation, said: “Illegal ‘scratchers’ pose a real danger to the public’s health, often using toxic inks and unsterilized equipment that can have a serious risk of spreading diseases such as hepatitis or HIV. People often tell us that the quality of the tattoo they had done was so poor that they had to spend time and money getting it corrected by a registered tattoo artist.”