December 2020 ‘Depraved’ tattoo artist raped woman and sexually assaulted five others while performing work on them A ‘depraved’ tattoo artist raped one woman and sexually assaulted another five while performing work on them. Paul Little, 56, ordered his victims, aged between 18 and 49, to undress before touching them and exposing himself at his parlour in Salford. In the most shocking incident, he raped a ‘vulnerable’ client as she admired her recently completed tattoo. The offences took place during a six-year period, between 2013 and 2019, when Little was working at Rabbit Tattoos, in Irlam. At Manchester Crown Court today (Tuesday, December 22), Little was jailed for eight and a half years. The court heard that Little had raped one woman in a ‘spontaneous’ attack when she visited his parlour to have an extensive tattoo done in 2014. Prosecutor Rachel White said that, with the victim inside the shop, Little locked the door before he started making inappropriate comments to her. He then cupped the woman’s breast and tried to kiss her. The work then continued but, as the woman was later admiring her completed tattoo, Little bent her over a bed, pulled down her underwear and ‘momentarily penetrated her’. “She says it happened very quickly and she bucked her upper body backwards a couple of times to push him away,” said Ms White. However, such was the victim’s confusion over what had happened that she returned to the parlour the next day to allow Little to take photographs of the tattoo. In a statement read out in court, the woman said the incident had ‘ruined her life and her marriage’. She said she initially did not want to tell anyone what had happened for fear of the damage it might cause. Meanwhile, on a separate occasion, Little ordered an 18-year-old woman to remove her clothes before grabbing her breast and making a number of explicit comments about them. The court heard that another victim had their breasts grabbed by Little after he made inappropriate comments about them. The woman told him to stop ‘in no uncertain terms’, said Ms White. In another shocking incident, Little sucked the nipple of one woman before kissing her on the mouth and exposing himself. He then attempted to put her hand on his penis. Three of the victims went to police separately to make allegations about Little last year. He was questioned by officers and charged with four counts of sexual assault last December. When a report on the charges appeared in the M.E.N. that month, several further victims came forward. However, Little denied carrying out the offences. Following a trial last month, a jury found him guilty of one count of rape, five counts of sexual assault and two counts of exposure. Jailing Little, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls described him as ‘exploitative and opportunistic’. She added: “Women should not have to tolerate behaviour or comments such as this. “Mr Little, I have heard that you are a man who has a talent with art. You have used and abused that to commit these offences. “It is still a talent nevertheless. I hope you are able to use your time in custody to reflect on what you class as banter. “It is distasteful and it makes people feel uncomfortable. “Your sexual antics are not only outdated but wholly inappropariate.” Judge Nicholls praised the victims for their ‘courage’ in coming forward, adding: “I hope that all of you can feel there is some closure in this matter and can move on with your lives.” All of the victims have been, and continue to be, supported by specialist officers from GMP and partners agencies including St. Mary’s. Little, of Bramhall Street, Warrington, was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, while a restraining order was imposed in relation to one of the victims.