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A surgeon who froze his legs so they would require amputation to satisfy a sexual obsession before making nearly £500,000 in insurance claims has been jailed.
Neil Hopper, a 49-year-old vascular surgeon, was given 32 months after he pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by false representation. This related to claims made to insurance companies that his legs had been amputated because of sepsis rather than self-inflicted injury.
He also admitted three charges of possessing extreme pornographic images relating to videos from a website called the EunuchMaker.
Despite reassurances from NHS officials, former patients of Hopper are now seeking legal advice over the treatment they received from him for fear it was not needed.
At Truro crown court on Thursday, Judge James Adkin heard that Hopper was identified after investigations into Marius Gustavson, who ran the website. Gustavson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years at the Old Bailey last year for leading an extreme body modification ring. It carried out male castration, penis removal and other procedures on people as young as 16.
Hopper worked for the Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS trust from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023 after his initial arrest. He was suspended from the medical register that December and the court heard his wife is seeking a divorce.
The trust has said the criminal charges against him did not relate to his professional conduct, adding: “There has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients.”
However, former patients – including some who underwent amputations – have contacted the medical negligence firm Enable Law with concerns about their treatment.
Hopper dishonestly made a false representation to Aviva and Old Mutual Health that his “legs had been amputated because of illness rather than self-inflicted injury”, the court heard.
In April 2019, he used dry ice to freeze his legs to the extent they were no longer viable and required amputation. This had long been an ambition of his and he had a sexual interest in it, the court was told.
After the amputation, he made claims to the insurers that resulted in payouts of £466,653.81. He spent the money on a campervan, a hot tub, wood burner and building works.
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In addition to jailing Hopper, the judge made a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and set a timetable for a proceeds of crime investigation to recover some of the funds he fraudulently obtained. The court heard that Hopper would lose his home.
The surgeon spoke of his amputation in interviews in 2023 with the BBC and in a documentary with the Welsh language channel, S4C. The court was told he “enjoyed the attention” the publicity generated, and he was shortlisted in the European Space Agency’s search for an astronaut with a disability.
The General Medical Council placed restrictions on his practice in April 2023 and he has been suspended from the medical register since December 2023.
After Hopper was charged, a Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS trust spokesperson said: “The charges do not relate to Mr Hopper’s professional conduct and there has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients. Mr Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, following his initial arrest.”
