A TATTOOIST who sexually assaulted young girls in his parlour has been warned to expect jail.

Andrew Simpson, 38, sexually assaulted two girls, aged 15 and 16, when they visited his Zoo Tattoo shop in Holderness Road, east Hull.

He also admitted tattooing them illegally as they were aged under 18.

Simpson, of Kissingate, Burton Pidsea, targeted a 16-year-old girl on November 6 last year when he decorated her leg with a tattoo.

At the end of the session he sexually assaulted her.

On January 23, he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl following a 45-minute session in which he inked a tattoo on her back.

He denied a further charge of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman who had visited his shop to have her belly-button pierced.

The two underage girls' parents had given consent for them to have tattoos, but by law they cannot have them until they are 18.

Simpson will have to sign the sex offenders' register.

He has pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to two charges of sexual assault and two charges of illegally tattooing persons under 18 without a valid medical reason.

His barrister John Thackray said: "The defendant by the nature of his conviction would never be employed in this capacity again."

The Honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding Judge Michael Mettyear told Simpson he was looking at a nine-month sentence.

He said: "You know you are going to get a custodial sentence. The maximum is nine months. It may be less, but it depends on the report from the Probation Service.

"It is no good when the probation officer comes to see you to start spinning them a line because it will be better if you admit you fell into temptation and are sorry."

He has been remanded in custody.

His case has been adjourned for a pre-sentence report and he is due to be sentenced next month.

Simpson has previously caused controversy after he gave a 13-year-old girl a body piercing.

Charlotte Young spent £5 on a tongue stud.

She claimed she was 16, but Simpson did not ask for identification.

Her furious father, Robert Young, demanded rules on body piercing be tightened after the incident.

At the time Simpson claimed Charlotte "slipped through the net" and apologised.

There is no legal minimum age for piercings under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 Part VIII. By contrast, the law states anyone wanting a tattoo must be aged 18 or over.

It is illegal to tattoo a person aged under 18, even with parental consent.

The only exception is if the tattoo is performed for medical reasons by a medical practitioner.

Simpson was also a co-organiser of Hull Ink, the city's first tattoo convention.