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An NHS vascular surgeon who had both of his legs amputated has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for insurance fraud and possessing extreme pornography, BBC reports.
Neil Hopper, 49, from Truro, Cornwall, carried out hundreds of amputations during his medical career before undergoing the procedure himself in 2019.
According to evidence presented at Truro Crown Court, Hopper deliberately froze his own legs with ice and dry ice, later falsely claiming to insurers that the amputations were due to sepsis.
Prosecutor Nicholas Lee told the court that in May 2019, Hopper had both legs removed below the knee after presenting with what he described as a “mysterious illness”.
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Hopper admitted to two counts of fraud and three counts of possessing extreme pornography, with the court hearing he had a “sexual interest in amputation”.
Judge James Adkin, in sentencing, acknowledged that Hopper was remorseful and had no prior convictions. However, he noted that the “level of harm” in the body mutilation videos Hopper possessed was “exceptionally high”.
The fraudulent claims, made to two insurance companies, amounted to more than £466,000. Hopper was said to have told a friend he intended to “milk it” for money and was motivated by both “greed” and a long-standing obsession with amputation.
After his amputations, Hopper returned to work within six months using prosthetic legs. He was later arrested in March 2023 and suspended from the medical register in December that year.
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His legal team argued that Hopper had suffered from body dysphoria since childhood, with his feet described as an “unwelcome extra”. They added that while he did not regret the operations, he “bitterly regrets” his dishonesty.
The case was linked to investigations into Marius Gustavson, who ran the EunuchMaker website and was jailed for life in 2024 for leading an extreme body modification network.
Hopper had purchased videos from Gustavson and exchanged over 1,500 messages with him regarding amputations.
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT), where Hopper worked from 2013 until his arrest, confirmed that the convictions did not relate to his professional conduct. An independent review of his surgical work found no evidence of risk or harm to patients.
Assistant Chief Constable Jim Pearce also stressed that “none of the criminal charges related to Hopper’s professional conduct, with no risk to patients he treated in his work at the hospital identified during the current police investigation.”
However, some of Hopper’s former patients have since expressed concern. A southwest-based medical negligence firm reported being contacted by individuals worried about the legitimacy of their operations.
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Mike Bird, partner at Enable Law, said the case had caused “shock and grave concern” among patients, calling for a thorough public investigation.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it would seek to recover the fraudulent funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2022.
Hopper previously trained at hospitals in Wales, including the Royal Gwent in Newport, Swansea, and Bangor, according to the BBC.