A former tattoo artist who filled a woman’s disfigured face with fillers to leave her “looking like a gargoyle” was posing as a doctor at his aesthetics clinic, a BBC investigation has revealed. It comes as a leading businessman warned of more “death and disfigurement” as plans to regulate the industry continue to be delayed.

Andrea covers her face when she leaves the house because she is worried that people will laugh at her, even two years after having cosmetic procedures.

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

“I live in a nightmare every day.”

The 60-year-old initially visited the ReShape U Cosmetics clinic in Hull in December 2021 for breast fillers.

She says she did “all the right things” to check the clinic’s reputation and felt even more reassured after reading on its website that it had “won Best Aesthetics Clinic in Yorkshire at the England Business Awards in 2022”.

He was seen at the clinic by Shawn Scott. At the time, posts by Sean on the social media pages of Reshape You and Faces referred to him as Dr. Sean Scott, Clinical Director. Videos posted by the same accounts in January and April 2023 show the clinic with a plaque on its door that reads Dr. Sean Scott, HPHD, Clinical Director.

However, the BBC has found that Mr Scott is not medically trained. He said he purchased the honorary Doctorate in Business Consultancy degree online “naively and regretfully” and displayed the certificate in his clinic.

He says he did not portray himself as a medical doctor and claims he told inquiring clients he was not medically qualified. He says he stopped using the fake title in 2024 on the advice of Hull City Council (HCC), after the authority told him it was “misleading”.

Andrea claims Mr. Scott gave her antibiotics after her first breast filler procedure in December 2021. She says when she came back the next month for a second breast filler procedure they gave her antibiotics again.

Andrea admits, “Everything he told me, I believed him… because he knew what he was talking about – he was a doctor.”

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.

Mr Scott has told the BBC that he did not prescribe antibiotics or Botox, but used a “doctor registered with an authorized pharmacy” to obtain the medicine online.

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Andrea says that two months after getting breast fillers, Mr Scott encouraged her to get facial fillers.

Dermal fillers are injections of hyaluronic acid, which are used to fill wrinkles and add volume to tissues.

Andrea claims Mr Scott told her he thought her cheeks were “uneven” and that he could help her face “conform”.

Andrea had fillers in her cheeks, chin and jaw but she says her face became swollen and dark marks appeared. From there, she says, the supposedly “simple process” turned into a litany of bad treatments.

Andrea claims Mr Scott told her the swelling was caused by an insect bite and said she was encouraged to seek further treatment.

Mr Scott strongly denied the allegations and said: “We have never carried out any treatment when a customer is showing signs of swelling, bruising or any other side effects.”

He said the only complaint Andrea initially made was that she “wasn’t very happy” with the treatments, and that was why she had to make “so many” follow-up appointments.

Mr Scott also claimed that Andrea had visited other clinics for treatment during this period, including damage to her skin, and that his clinic had treated this damage. Andrea says she had only had one dermal filler treatment elsewhere in the three years before meeting Mr Scott, which she was happy with.

Mr Scott was a tattooer for 33 years before opening ReShape U in 2019. He also runs an aesthetics training business, Yorkshire Esthetics Training Academy.

Over the course of 10 months, Andrea made more than 30 appointments with Mr. Scott, which included fillers, botox and threads. Mr Scott said he only performed procedures in some of these appointments.

Andrea sold jewelery and borrowed money to pay for the treatment, which reached thousands of pounds, but she says the reaction got even worse.

She says she went to the hospital in October 2022, barely able to keep her eyes open. In letters from plastic surgeons seen by the BBC, Andrea was told her reactions were caused by cosmetic procedures.

A cosmetologist who examined Andrea said that her lesions were probably caused by an infection, which can occur from cosmetic procedures but is rare in clean environments with good techniques.

The BBC is aware of at least three other complaints made about Mr Scott and the use of fake qualifications.

Two of them were created for the registered practitioner service Save Face.

Director Ashton Collins said that the people who reported Mr Scott’s “bad behaviour” singled him out because they thought he was a doctor.

HCC health and safety officers visited Mr Scott’s premises in 2024 after concerns were raised about his credentials.

The council said it had found a number of issues that needed improvement but no formal action was taken because the business was agreeable to its requests.

Mr Scott told the BBC that the clinic had taken advice and had since “completely reviewed all our processes”.

He added, “Although we may have made mistakes in the beginning, we have always given our customers 100% of our ability. We have learned valuable lessons and have already progressed with ongoing training and development.”

There have been warnings about the aesthetics industry for years.

In 2013, a review of cosmetics regulation concluded that dermal fillers were “a crisis waiting to happen”. Because anyone can become a practitioner, “without the need for any knowledge, training or prior experience”.

In 2022, the Health and Care Act gave the government powers to introduce licensing for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. It is yet to be enacted.

First death from cosmetic procedure Recorded in the UK in 2024.

Dr Paul Charlson, an aesthetics doctor in East Yorkshire and a member of the Joint Council for Cosmetics Practitioners (JCCP), warns that there will be “more deaths and more disfigurement” unless the government steps in to enforce the law. Does not move forward” which he had helped in. Work collaboratively with others across the industry.

“If the government says ‘we want it in six months’ then it can be done,” he said.

The JCCP said it had dealt with “exploding complaints” from local councils about poor practice in the area. In 2023, it became aware of complaints from two local authorities, while by the end of 2024 the number was 65.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care did not comment on Dr Charlson’s criticisms, but said it was “unacceptable” that people’s lives were being put at risk by “inadequately trained operators in the cosmetic sector”, and that ” “Is urgently exploring options for further regulation”.

He urged anyone considering cosmetic procedures to find a reputable, insured and qualified physician.

Andrea says she has been left mentally and physically scarred, with regular facial expressions and says she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I would never do it again and wouldn’t advise anyone to do it,” she says.

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