A woman whose body is 70 per cent covered by tattoos says she has lost work and gets followed round shops by security guards.<br /><br />Sarah Hutchinson, 29, known by fans as Joey, is an actress and says the ink art which covers 70% of her body means she gets typecast as a criminal or homeless person.<br /><br />Colleagues tell her the artwork - which covers her arms and legs - is intimidating and people assume she's "mean".<br /><br />Sarah, who starred in ITV's The Cabin, got her first tattoo - "4ever in my heart" on her wrist when she was 15 - and reckons she has spent around £7,000 on tattoos since.<br /><br />The personal trainer and musician says her hand tattoos of a star, a moon and the word 'why' are her biggest regret.<br /><br />She has an ex's name tattooed her wedding ring finger - but it's too painful to remove, and she says her girlfriend won't marry her while it's still there.<br /><br />Sarah reckons repairing or covering up "shoddy" work will cost her £1500 - and her top tips to others include never booking an artist who costs less than £350 a day.<br /><br />She also recommends waiting at least three months AFTER picking a design, before having it inked. <br /><br />Sarah, from Ancoats, Manchester, said: "“Everyone has this perception that I’m mean.<br /><br />“People I met at work have told me they didn’t speak to me for a really long time because they said I looked intimidating.<br /><br />“I always get cast as the homeless person. I’m typecast as a criminal - I only get really crap things because of my tattoos.<br /><br />“It’s really crappy because I’m gay and I know that enhances my chances with things, but my tattoos do the opposite. <br /><br />"It annoys me because people automatically think that people who have tattoos are knobheads.<br /><br />“I think they’re still associated with bad behaviour, and being stupid or idiotic - people pair that with criminal.<br /><br />“I was in Marks & Spencer at summertime, wearing shorts and a top.<br /><br />“I was walking round, trying to find something for lunch, when my girlfriend said that the security guard was following me. <br /><br />“I purposely walked round the aisles to see if he was - and he was. I said to him ‘I will steal something if you keep watching me’.<br /><br />“I’m really used to it - sometimes I’m oblivious to it and it’s my partner that points it out. <br /><br />"It sounds mad in this day and age but I get stared at pretty much everywhere I go. <br /><br />“I’m not stealing - I’ll swing the bag and show them I’m not stealing."<br /><br />Sarah's tattoos include a cover-up of five friend's names which she got on a night out. <br /><br />"I had 5 names tattooed on my bum in a list and I’ve had them covered now, but you can still sort of see it through the cover up," she said.<br /><br />"They were my best mates names, and I was 18. I got a sixth name from someone I met one night in Magaluf and I never spoke to them again - so that was probably a dumb move!"<br /><br />Her other tattoos include sea-themed tattoos, including a bottle with the words 'Not all who wander are lost', and ancient Egyptian murals which she says she doesn't regret.<br /><br />"There's a lot I don't regret, it's just the bad artistry and the one I got as a kid that I do. I wouldn't have them all removed if I could, just corrected."<br /><br />She is hoping to get a black out skeleton tattoo on her two hands in the next few months to repair some tattoo work she had done.<br /><br />“My hand’s are my biggest regret - they’re a bit scruffy and I’m currently in the process of getting them covered,” she said. <br /><br />“They’re not really bad, but they’re just a bit shoddy.<br /><br />“I have one of my ex-girlfriend’s names tattooed on my wedding ring finger. I’ve tried to have it removed but it was too painful so I have a blurry name now.<br /><br />“My girlfriend said she will never marry me until its fully removed but it hurts too much to get it removed - so I guess we will never get married. <br /><br />“I have a moon and a star, and next to that I have the word 'why'. I ask ‘why’ I did it.<br /><br />“Now I’m booked in for blacked out skeleton fingers so it will be the image of the bone through the finger because that’s the only tattoo that will cover it.”<br /><br />Her advice to people considering tattoos is to “pick a design and wait a minimum of three months before you get it".<br /><br />She added: “I have a lot of shoddy work. I went to cheap people and so I have a lot of crappy artwork on me that I’m getting fixed. <br /><br />“They have to have a decent waiting list. If they have walk-ins they are bad. <br /><br />"Anything less than £350 a day will be bad.”
