Allan Fenton inked the words "no regrets" on the girl's shoulder then charged her £25 for the illegal brand. Fenton, 24, had no licence to give tattoos, but ran a word-of-mouth business from his home in Dundee's Gotterstone Drive. He was caught when police and council licensing officers raided his home and found what a sheriff described as "quite an operation" in a bedroom.
Fenton had surgical tapes and gloves, rolls of cling film, five tattooing machines, a tattooing table and armrests in his room. Fiscal depute Gillian Sim told Dundee Sheriff Court: "Between July 21 and 23 the girl and a friend attended at the accused's home address.
"The accused tattooed the 14-year-old child at the cost of £25. The following day a search was carried out and the accused was found at home where he co-operated fully. "Within his bedroom a large amount of equipment was traced for carrying out tattooing."
Fenton, of Gotterstone Drive, Dundee, pleaded guilty to charges of running a tattooing business without a licence and tattooing a 14-year-old girl, contrary to the Tattooing of Minors Act 1969, between July 21 and 23 at his home. Sheriff Derek O'Carroll fined Fenton £360 and said: "The point of the legislation is that tattooing is potentially a dangerous act that can potentially case infection.
"The way that you were carrying out this in your back bedroom shows there was no supervision at all. However, there is no evidence of any harm being caused by you."Earlier in the year, Central Scotland Police launched a crackdown on unlicensed tattoo artists after reports that a number of children under the age of 18 were given illegal inkings at a house party in the Falkirk area.
Public health specialist Dr Henry Prempeh said: "A tattoo can lead to serious infection if it is not done by a trained tattoo artist. The risks increase significantly if tattooing is carried out in premises that are not fit for purpose and regularly maintained."