An NHS vascular surgeon in the United Kingdom who had both of his legs amputated has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after being found guilty of insurance fraud and possessing extreme pornography.
Neil Hopper, 49, from Truro in Cornwall, had performed hundreds of amputation procedures during his career before undergoing the removal of his own legs in 2019.
Truro Crown Court was told that Hopper deceived insurance firms by claiming his amputations were caused by sepsis rather than being self-inflicted.
Prosecutor Nicholas Lee explained that Hopper had deliberately frozen his legs using ice and dry ice, forcing doctors to operate.
In May 2019, Hopper underwent below-knee amputations following what was initially believed to be a “mysterious illness.” The court heard that the surgeon secretly harbored a “sexual interest in amputation.”
Judge James Adkin, in sentencing, said while Hopper showed remorse and had no prior convictions, the “level of harm” in three videos of body mutilation linked to the pornography charges was “exceptionally high.”
Hopper first sought medical help after complaining of severe foot pain, leading doctors to suspect sepsis.
He concealed the real cause of his injuries, which eventually led to amputation surgery.
The fraudulent claims submitted to two insurance companies totalled over £466,000. Mr Lee told the court Hopper had been driven by “greed” and even told a friend he should “milk it.”
He added, “His motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a sexual interest in doing so. It seems to have been a long-standing ambition of his.”
Despite losing both legs, Hopper returned to work within six months using prosthetics. He was later arrested in March 2023 and has been suspended from the medical register since December of that year.
Andrew Langdon KC, representing Hopper, described the offences as a “shock” to his client’s friends and colleagues, adding: “He [Hopper] has been committed to working to the service of others. The whole saga is very difficult to comprehend.”
The extreme pornography charges were tied to online purchases of body mutilation videos, though the material did not involve children.
Hopper had been linked to Marius Gustavson, the ringleader of the EunuchMaker website, who was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years in 2024 for running an extreme body modification network.
Court records revealed that Hopper had exchanged around 1,500 messages with Gustavson, discussing his amputations and asking about using dry ice.
He purchased three videos from the site for amounts between £10 and £35, showing men undergoing voluntary genital removal.
Mr Langdon told the court Hopper had struggled with body dysphoria since childhood, describing his feet as an “unwelcome extra” and a “persisting never-ending discomfort.” While Hopper expressed no regret over the amputations themselves, he “bitterly regrets” lying about their cause.
He said Hopper had been “totally overwhelmed by support from friends and family which made it even more difficult to tell them what had really happened.”
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT), where Hopper worked from 2013 until his arrest, said after the verdict that the convictions were unrelated to his professional practice.
A full review of his surgeries, including an independent expert assessment, found “no evidence whatsoever to indicate any risk or harm to patients at our hospitals.”
Assistant Chief Constable Jim Pearce confirmed that Devon and Cornwall Police found no criminal misconduct connected to Hopper’s medical work.
Even so, a South West-based law firm said former patients had reached out with concerns. Mike Bird, partner at Enable Law, stated, “Some have had life-changing surgery and are now worried it was not really needed. While we understand that RCHT have said that the charges do not relate to his professional conduct and there is apparently no evidence suggesting any risk to patients, this is such a serious situation that there must be a rigorous public investigation.”
The Crown Prosecution Service has said it will pursue recovery of the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2022.
One former patient, Jason Abbot, 38, from Hayle, whose foot was amputated by Hopper in 2022 due to arthritis, voiced support for the surgeon, “He was great, very supportive of the situation, [he gave] me loads of information about it and told me to have a really good think about it and I did.”
Abbot admitted he “felt shocked” at the conviction but added, “I never thought he would do anything like that.”
Hopper, originally from Aberystwyth in Ceredigion, had also worked at hospitals in Newport, Swansea, and Bangor earlier in his career.