Body piercer ‘rapist’ was ‘insistent’ on teenagers having nipples pierced

A body piercer accused of rape and sexual assaults on female clients was described as ‘predatory’ by a former employee, a court heard today.

Former assistant Terri-Marie Harrison said Paul Saunders was also ‘insistent’ when trying to persuade teenagers to have both nipples pierced when they had visited his studio to only have one done.

She claimed another member of staff resigned after spotting a customer walking out of his room before finding he was naked when she went in.

Saunders, who runs Scarz & Barz in Ipswich, Suffolk, is said to have used his job as a cover for taking advantage of ‘vulnerable’ young women.

The prosecution say he became aroused during intimate piercings, touched women inappropriately and took photographs of their private parts. 

Some images were allegedly kept on his phone.

He denies three rapes, six sexual assaults and one incident of assault by penetration.

Miss Harrison, who worked for the defendant for three years from 2014, said at least one 16 or 17-year-old girl would see him every day to have nipples pierced. 

Many were from nearby Suffolk New College of further education.

She told police: ‘He was just overly, a little bit touchey-feely, a little bit predatory to people.

‘He was very insistent with people and would give them a hug – and it was a big hug. People would be uncomfortable and he would insist.

‘He would say to young girls, ‘Okay, put your clothes on and then I will give you a hug’.’

‘Sometimes, people would come in for an ear piercing and he would ask them if they wanted something more adventurous and show them pictures.’

Miss Harrison said she left her job after Saunders, 51, criticised her when she was ‘really angry about the way he was talking to customers’.

She described how another member of staff was sacked when a customer walked out of his room in his flat and was told: ‘Oh, you don’t want to go in there.’

The employee went into defendant’s room and lost her temper when she allegedly found Saunders naked, saying: ‘Maybe you should stop sleeping with customers.’

Giving evidence at Ipswich Crown Court from behind a screen, Miss Harrison said her boss would try to convince women to have both nipples pierced, adding: ‘There were not many cases where he would give up.’

Cross-examined by Vanessa Marshall KC, she accepted many women brought a friend along or had a female member of staff as a chaperone.

Ms Marshall told her: ‘Mr Saunders was a good salesman, wasn’t he? He had the chat. He lived for the studio. He wanted to make it work and make money.

‘He was passionate about piercings and would encourage people through the doors to have them.’

The alleged offences came to light when Saunders posted a claim on Facebook during the Covid pandemic that he was an ‘essential worker’ and had a negative test result, the court heard.

A number of people objected to the April 2020 post and a former girlfriend ended up putting a poster with a photo of his face on a lamppost, accompanied by the message ‘free hugs with every piercing’ – but with the word ‘hugs’ crossed out and replaced with ‘groping’.

This triggered a stream of complaints from women about Saunders’ behaviour, prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC said.

Police were contacted after a private Facebook group called Safe Space was set up for anyone who claimed to have fallen victim to him.

Saunders was arrested at his flat on April 29, 2020, and, in a police interview, said he was surprised he had not been arrested previously ‘as it had been building up a while and he had upset some individuals,’ Ms Scamardella told jurors.

He claimed ‘some people who thought he had scarred them had gone on to form a Me Too Facebook group’ and had got together to ‘vent anger against him’.

The prosecution say Saunders established himself as a ‘man of status’ following his appearance on a television documentary and used this to gain the trust of ‘vulnerable’ young women.

Saunders – whose profile on his business’s website states he has been ‘piercing for almost 13 years now with a ton of experience’ – is said to have placed the illicit photos of unsuspecting customers in a password-protected folder on his phone, saving them ‘for his own sexual gratification’.

It is also alleged he made ‘inappropriate remarks about the size of women’s breasts’ during the procedures and asked clients to hug him ‘in a sexual way’ after piercings.

Five-minute piercings would often take up to 45 minutes, the jury was told, with staff considering the time taken to be ‘unusual’ and suggesting something ‘more sinister at play’.

Outside the studio Saunders, who is known by his nickname Poz, allegedly attacked one woman at his home.

The court heard after missing her bus she agreed to go to the defendant’s flat where she froze after he appeared topless and began taking her clothes off.

The woman was left ‘crying… hyperventilating [and] scared’ before she managed to flee from the property without her bra and socks on.

A friend who met her said she was ‘white as a ghost and shaking like a leaf’, Mr Scamardella said.

Another victim is said to have been raped after she confided in Saunders about receiving treatment for cancer. 

The jury were told they will also hear about a woman who the defendant met when she was 17 and who was assaulted while she slept.

Saunders allegedly created an account on FetLife – a social media site for fans of bondage, domination and fetishism – in which he uploaded photos of vaginal piercings he performed.

In his profile, he described himself as having ‘big hands to spank you and strength to pin you’, the jury was told.

Opening the case, prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC said: ‘Mr Saunders was sexually aroused by his work and used his profession as a piercer to mask the sordid reality.

‘He assaulted some of the women during intimate piercings, pretending the sexual touching was no more than the piercing demanded.

‘These procedures are invasive, sensitive and incredibly intimate and he preyed upon feelings of embarrassment and awkwardness and exploited weaknesses of those who trusted him.

‘But he also assaulted women outside of work and it was common for him to contact women after a procedure. He was opportunistic.’

Elsewhere, the court heard that Saunders insisted to police he had safeguards in place in his studio, with receptionists asking if clients were okay as they left his treatment room. He claimed the studio also had CCTV cameras.

He confirmed he pierced nipples of girls aged over 16, but only did genital piercings for over 18s. 

All clients were asked to produce identification to prove their age and those having genital piercings normally ‘asked for someone to accompany them’.

He said: ‘If any person felt they had been touched inappropriately, they would go ‘Oy, get off’ and you would see it on the CCTV.’

Mr Scamardella added: ‘He made the extraordinary claim that many had orgasms during piercings by him.’

Saunders went on to claim that he was always ‘professional’ and would turn his back when clients were dressing after a procedure.

He denied touching anyone inappropriately and insisted that he only took pictures of his work on clients if they gave their consent.

But he added that he had later stopped doing so ‘to protect himself’ and instead began asking customers to take pictures of themselves and send them in if he wanted.

Saunders told police that he would offer clients a hug after they had dressed and this applied to ‘young and old and male and female customers’.

He added that if anyone didn’t want a hug or ‘showed any discomfort’, he would not give them one.

Saunders also denied sexually assaulting one woman by drawing dots on her breasts in preparation for a piercing, and then ‘repeatedly doing it’, saying his previous efforts were ‘wonky’.

He accepted he sometimes drew smiley faces or the message ‘property of boyfriend’ on breasts, but only with the consent of clients.

Saunders claimed the alleged rapes in his home were actually consensual sex.

The trial continues.