A teenage girl is suing a tattoo artist for £10,000 after she allegedly asked him for three stars on her face - but ended up with 56.
Eighteen-year-old Kimberley Vlaminck paid £55 for 'the graffiti that has ruined my life' in her Belgian home town of Courtrai.
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Scarred from life: Kimberley Vlaminck shows her tattooed face. The 56 stars will cost £8,500 to remove
Kimberley says the tattoos have ruined her life
She claimed the Romanian tattooist who performed the artwork misunderstood her French and English.
She claims she fell asleep while he was doing his work... and awoke to 'this nightmare'.
'It is terrible for me,' said Kimberley. 'I cannot go out on to the street, I am so embarrassed. I just look horrible.'
'I think he didn’t understand what I wanted. He spoke only fractured English and French.
'But I explicitly said in my native tongue, French, and also in a little bit of English when he looked confused, that I wanted three little stars only near my left eye.'
Rouslan Toumaniantz, who runs the tattoo parlour called The Tattoo Box in Courtrai, denies her claim.
He said she knew 'exactly what she wanted'.
He added: 'She was awake and looked into the mirror several times as the procedure was taking place.
'The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend threw a fit.
'They are saying things now like I doped her or hypnotised her. What rubbish!
'She asked for 56 stars and that’s what she got.'
To remove the stars would require surgery costing £8,500.
But even the most advanced laser techniques would, while removing the tattoos, leave deep white marks all across Kimberley's face.
She has launched legal proceedings against Toumaniantz seeking damages, plus the money for the operation.
He was questioned by police earlier this year but they decided it was a civil matter and that there was nothing they could do.
Jules Clocher, a Belgian psychologist, said: 'The trauma this girl must be feeling is indescribable. She feels like a circus freak - and no wonder, because she looks like one.'
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