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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Homeless man paid to have forehead tattooed 'did it in desperation' | Homeless man paid to have forehead tattooed 'did it in desperation' |
| (6 months later) | |
| A homeless man living in Benidorm who was allegedly paid €100 (£89) by a British stag group to have the groom’s name tattooed on his forehead has said he accepted the offer out of desperation. | A homeless man living in Benidorm who was allegedly paid €100 (£89) by a British stag group to have the groom’s name tattooed on his forehead has said he accepted the offer out of desperation. |
| Tomek, 34, who met the group in the Spanish resort in May, said he was paid to get the words “Jamie Blake, North Shields, NE28” inked on his skin. | Tomek, 34, who met the group in the Spanish resort in May, said he was paid to get the words “Jamie Blake, North Shields, NE28” inked on his skin. |
| “When you live on the street, you’re hungry and you need to drink, that kind of money is like winning the lottery,” he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. | “When you live on the street, you’re hungry and you need to drink, that kind of money is like winning the lottery,” he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. |
| “There weren’t 30 people there, like the British papers have said. There was just one person, who was as drunk as I was, laughing and taking photos. When I couldn’t take it any more because the part they were tattooing was just skin and bone, he looked at me and just said: ‘Go.’” | “There weren’t 30 people there, like the British papers have said. There was just one person, who was as drunk as I was, laughing and taking photos. When I couldn’t take it any more because the part they were tattooing was just skin and bone, he looked at me and just said: ‘Go.’” |
| The Polish national said he could not understand why the tattooist had not refused the job when he saw how drunk he was. The pain, he added, had been excruciating. | The Polish national said he could not understand why the tattooist had not refused the job when he saw how drunk he was. The pain, he added, had been excruciating. |
| “If it hurt me so much and I was totally drunk, I can’t imagine how much it would hurt someone who was sober,” he said. | “If it hurt me so much and I was totally drunk, I can’t imagine how much it would hurt someone who was sober,” he said. |
| Tomek told the paper he had worked in the kitchen of a four-star hotel in Poland and walked all the way to Spain after splitting up with his girlfriend shortly before they were due to get married. | Tomek told the paper he had worked in the kitchen of a four-star hotel in Poland and walked all the way to Spain after splitting up with his girlfriend shortly before they were due to get married. |
| He said he had been robbed a few days before running into the stag party, and was reluctant to go to the police. | He said he had been robbed a few days before running into the stag party, and was reluctant to go to the police. |
| “I thought the police would laugh at me and I didn’t think what they’d done to me was a crime, but now I know it was,” he said. | “I thought the police would laugh at me and I didn’t think what they’d done to me was a crime, but now I know it was,” he said. |
| Social services and the Benidorm British Business Association have raised €3,000 for Tomek and he has been offered medical treatment and told to stop drinking. The matter has also been reported to the police. | Social services and the Benidorm British Business Association have raised €3,000 for Tomek and he has been offered medical treatment and told to stop drinking. The matter has also been reported to the police. |
| He told El Mundo that he hoped some good would come of his experience. “I might even open a restaurant serving traditional Polish food. Who knows? After what’s happened to me, I’m never going to give up,” he said. | He told El Mundo that he hoped some good would come of his experience. “I might even open a restaurant serving traditional Polish food. Who knows? After what’s happened to me, I’m never going to give up,” he said. |
| Jamie Blake, 37, told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle he had nothing to do with the tattoo and claimed Tomek was not homeless. | Jamie Blake, 37, told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle he had nothing to do with the tattoo and claimed Tomek was not homeless. |
| “I got drunk and was asked to leave the bar,” he said. “I was never in the tattoo parlour and as far as I know, he was not paid any money.” | “I got drunk and was asked to leave the bar,” he said. “I was never in the tattoo parlour and as far as I know, he was not paid any money.” |
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