I was left looking like a gargoyle after tattoo artist faked being a filler doctor with a certificate he bought online

A WOMAN has been left looking like a ‘gargoyle’ after a tattoo artist posed as an aesthetic doctor and gave her face filler.

The 60-year-old is now so mortified by the botched procedure that she will only step outside wearing a mask to hide her face.

Andrea spoke to the BBC about her ordeal and swore she would never do it again despite taking all the right precautions before visiting Sean Scott.

Now, two years on from the filler injections, Andrea covers her face when she leaves the house, because she worries people will laugh at her.

“I see a gargoyle… something horrible, disgusting,” she told the BBC.

“I live a nightmare every single day.”

The investigation by the BBC found that Sean, a tattoo artist who claimed to be an aesthetic practitioner, was not medically trained.

She initially visited Reshape U cosmetics clinic in Hull in December 2021 for breast fillers.

Andrea said she did “all the right things” to check the clinic’s reputation and was further reassured reading on its website that it had “won Best Aesthetics Clinic in Yorkshire in 2022 at the England Business Awards”.

She was seen by Sean Scott at the clinic, and social media posts from the business at the time referred to him as Dr. Sean Scott, Clinical Director.

Videos posted by the same accounts in January and April 2023 show a plaque on his door in the clinic saying Dr Sean Scott, PhD, Clinical Director.

However, the BBC found Sean was not medically trained and he revealed he “naively and regretfully” bought an honorary doctorate in business consultancy online and displayed the certificate in his clinic.

Sean also claimed that he did not portray himself as a medical doctor and informed clients who asked that he was not medically qualified.

I trusted in everything that he said to me… because he knew what he was on about – he was the doctor.”

Andrea

In regards to his fake title of doctor, he revealed he stopped using it on advice from Hull City Council (HCC) in 2024, with the authority telling him it was “misleading”.

Andrea recalls being given antibiotics after her breast filler appointment in December 2021 and again for her follow-up treatment.

“I trusted in everything that he said to me… because he knew what he was on about – he was the doctor,” Andrea admitted.

Sean told the BBC he did not prescribe the antibiotics or Botox, and instead used a “registered prescriber with an authorised pharmacy” to obtain the medicine online.

The General Medical Council, which regulates doctors, says only “medical professionals” can prescribe antibiotics and Botox and they should only do so if they have “adequate knowledge” of the patient.

But that’s not where Andrea’s nightmare ends, two months later she was encouraged by Sean to get facial filler.

Dermal fillers are used to fill wrinkles and tissue volume by inserting the skin with hyaluronic acid injections

Andrea claims Sean could help ‘harmonise’ her ‘uneven’ cheeks.

She was given filler to her cheeks, chin and jaw but her face began to swell and darm marks appeared, what was meant to be a simple procedure turned into a botched treatment.

When she discussed the swelling with who she thought was a trained doctor, she claimed Sean said they were from insect bites and was encouraged to have further treatment.

Mr Scott strongly denies the allegations, adding: “Never once did we perform any treatments while the client was showing any signs of swelling, bruising or any other side effect.”

He said the only complaints Andrea initially made were that she “wasn’t quite happy” with the treatments, and that was the reason she had “so many” follow-up appointments.

He also claimed his clinic fixed treatments Andrea had done elsewhere, something Andrea denies as she had filler three years at a different clinic three years before visiting Sean and was ‘happy’ with the results.

Over the course of 10 months, Andrea had 30 appointments with Sean’s clinic, Reshape U, including filler, Botox and threads, but he claims only some appointments carried out procedures.

Andrea sold jewellery and borrowed money to pay, but the reaction to the treatments only got worse.

In October 2022 Andrea went to hospital as she was unable to open her eyes, letters from plastic surgeons say the damage was caused by the cosmetic procedures.

A cosmetics expert who has since examined Andrea said her scarring was likely caused by an infection, which can occur from cosmetic procedures but is rare in a clean environment with good techniques.

Andrea has been left scarred both mentally and physically, suffering regularly with pain in her face and says she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I would never do it again and I would never advise anyone to do it,” she said.

Health and safety officers from the council visited Mr Scott’s premises in 2024 after concerns were raised about his credentials, but despite finding a number of issues no formal action was taken because the business was receptive to its requests

Mr Scott told the BBC the clinic had taken advice and “totally reviewed all our procedures” since then.

He added: “While we may have made mistakes in the beginning, we have always given 100% of our ability to our clients. We have learnt valuable lessons and progressed with ongoing training and development already.”

Dr Paul Charlson, who is an aesthetics doctor in East Yorkshire and member of the Joint Council for Cosmetics Practitioners (JCCP), warns there will be “more deaths and more disfigurement” unless the government “gets on with” enacting the legislation he helped to draw up alongside others across the industry.