An NHS doctor has been struck off after supporting and encouraging his roommate to carry out fetishistic body amputations in their London flat.
Dr Baraa Almasri lived with Marius Gustavson, known as the ‘eunuch maker’ because of the website he ran bearing the same name, where he operated on his victims from their basement flat in Haringey.
This included freezing and amputating limbs, illegal castrations and cooking human testicles to eat in a salad.
A tribunal investigating Dr Almasri’s conduct heard that text messages between the pair revealed that he viewed his roommate’s criminal behaviour as a “source of humour” and had told Gustavson, referred to in its report only as Mr A, “you’re being naughty” while also receiving dozens of graphic images.
Gustavson, originally from Norway, was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years after carrying out the irreversible procedures on people as young as 16, following a trial at the Old Bailey in 2024. All of the alleged victims were said to have been part of a society in which people willingly undergo extreme body modification, the court heard.
The tribunal heard that Dr Almasri came to the UK in 2019 from Romania to undertake an unpaid work partnership at Essex Partnership University Trust, having previously worked in the UAE and Egypt.
He undertook further placements at Rochford Hospital, Basildon mental health unit and St Margaret’s Hospital in Epping between November 2019 and February 2021.
It is understood that Dr Almasri met Gustavson in January 2019, with the two exchanging several text messages over the following year, before he moved into his home in February 2020.
In text messages referring to Gustavson’s depraved actions, Dr Almasri said that many of the individuals had treatable psychiatric problems, but did not attempt to intervene or report the Norwegian to the police.
Between 2017 and 2021, Gustavson made more than £300,000 from his ‘Eunuch Maker’ website by posting gruesome videos of procedures, which people could download for a fee, and police later found that he had kept the amputated body parts of his victims as “trophies” in his freezer.
Dr Almasri was arrested in December 2021 after concerns were raised about their relationship, but answered no comment to all questions. Investigating officers subsequently discovered a number of messages between the pair on his phone, despite his refusal to provide a pin code or passwords to his devices.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service report states: “In the tribunal’s view, the messages demonstrate that Dr Almasri appeared supportive of Mr A’s activities.
“He showed interest in those procedures and in helping with the website and the procedures themselves in the future. He messaged about his lack of surgical skill, but was willing to learn if Mr A could teach him.
“The tribunal noted that the activities were discussed over a prolonged time period – more than one year – yet at no point did Dr Almasri seek to dissuade Mr A to stop his activities.
“Rather, Mr A’s activities appeared to be a source of humour and amusement between them. Dr Almasri also sought to know more about certain procedures. His questions and responses were such as could be perceived by Mr A as encouragement.”
The tribunal found that Dr Almasri “demonstrated a willingness to be a part of the enterprise” once his exams had concluded, with a text message suggesting his intention to observe a procedure.
Dr Almasri was not present at the hearing, which took place earlier this month, and said he could not afford legal representation.
The MPTS concluded that Dr Almasri should be erased from the medical register, as his conduct was “so serious as to be fundamentally incompatible with continued registration”.
