AN AMATEUR tattooist carried out work on two underage girls for free - infuriating their parents, magistrates heard.

Terry Baron, an unemployed builder's labourer, was fined at Cheltenham Magistrates Court on Friday after he tattooed the girls, aged 13 and 16, after they were introduced to him by a friend.

The pair, one of whom was from Stroud, Glos, agreed to the tattoos, which Baron did for free only to be reported to the police by the girl's angry parents. He appeared at court charged with two counts of tattooing a person under the age of 18.

The tattoos show several paw prints going up the leg of one of the girls and a rose on the shoulder of the other girl with the word PRINCESS' on her lower back topped off with two crowns above it.

Baron, of Bowley Road, Cirencester, told the court he had thought both girls were over 18 but admitted not checking their ages or getting them to sign a disclaimer.

Baron's solicitor argued: "Nothing went wrong with the tattoos but they were not to the parents liking.

"He is sorry about it and accepts he didn't take sufficient care to find out how old they were or ask their parents to come and give consent.

"He does it for his own satisfaction and for his customers satisfaction."

The amateur tattooist, who lives with his father and works from home, pleaded guilty to the charges under the Tattooing of Minors Act and was fined £235, plus £55 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

At an earlier hearing, prosecutors had argued the case was so serious the charges should be upgraded to one under the Offences Against the Person Act.

Malcolm Bragg, owner of Gloucester County Tattoos, called for more legislation to help crackdown on unlicensed premises.

"These so-called tattooists damage the reputation of everybody in the industry and they simply should not be allowed to get away with it," he said.

"There should be more done to root out these places and close them down before they damage the reputation of the rest of us."