A retired chemist helped run an extreme body modifications website made almost £300,000 and had 22,000 subscribers who viewed procedures including the removal of male genitals. 

The “eunuch maker” site saw men carry out extreme procedures then sell the films on their pay-per-view website. 

Retired chemist Peter Wates, 66, from Epsom, is said to have been “right hand man” to ringleader Marious Gustavson, 46. 

Gustavson, from Haringey, has previously admitted charges including conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. 

Wates and five other men also admitted their parts in the lucrative scheme. 

Among them was Janus Atkin, who had been completing a veterinary course, the Old Bailey heard. 

Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 23, from Epsom, was previously jailed for three years and eight months after he admitted freezing Gustavson’s leg, leading to it being amputated. 

On Thursday (May 2) Gustavson, Wates, Atkin and three other men appeared at the Old Bailey for sentencing.

The charges relate to 13 victims who are being safeguarded by specialist detectives. 

The wide-ranging conspiracy also involved the removal and trade of body parts, the court was told. 

The procedures were filmed and uploaded to the “eunuch maker” website Gustavson ran, and subscribers paid to watch, with varying levels of membership from “free” to “VIP” which cost £100, the court heard. 

The practice is linked to a subculture where men become “nullos”, short for genital nullification, by having their penis and testicles removed. 

Ms Carberry KC said the group used a “wide variety of tools” for their procedures including clamps used for “animal castration”. 

Ms Carberry told the court that during a facetime call with a man in Sweden, Gustavson told him to “maim himself” by cutting off his testicles with a knife. 

Gustavson told him: “You know what to do come on, just push it.” 

Three days later, Gustavson encouraged him to cut off his penis, the court was told. 

Ms Carberry said that police officers found Gustavson’s penis “in a drawer in his home four years after it had been amputated”. 

Ten men were arrested after police raids in London, Scotland and South Wales. 

Gustavson pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of making an indecent photograph of a child, one count of distributing an indecent photograph of a child and possession of criminal property contrary to Section 329(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. 

Ion Ciucur, 30, of Gretna, Scotland, Wates, 66, of Purley, Surrey, Stefan Scharf, 61, of no fixed address, David Carruthers 61, Atkin, 38, Ashley Williams, 32, all of Newport, Gwent, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm. 

The sentencing hearing will conclude on Friday.