A surgeon who had his own legs amputated has been sentenced to prison.
Neil Hopper, an NHS vascular surgeon, has been sentenced to 32 months in jail after admitting to fraud concerning the amputation of his legs and possession of extreme pornography involving genital mutilation.
Hopper, aged 49, confessed to two counts of fraud by false representation. He claimed a total of £466,653.81 (over $620,000) from two insurance companies, falsely stating that his leg amputations were due to illness rather than self-inflicted harm.
Additionally, he admitted to three charges of possessing extreme pornographic images, which included videos from a website run by Marius Gustavson called the EunuchMaker, depicting genital mutilation.
Gustavson was previously sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 22 years for his activities involving the mutilation of paying customers and broadcasting it online for both financial gain and sexual gratification, as reported by BBC News.
Judge James Adkin explained that Hopper intentionally inflicted damage to his lower legs using dry ice, following Gustavson’s instructions, in April 2019.
Beyond the fraudulent claims, Hopper reportedly inflicted these injuries on himself for sexual gratification.
During the sentencing on September 4, the judge stated via PA: “You were admitted to hospital when you have the symptoms of sepsis well knowing what the medics will be looking out.”
“You were in hospital for six weeks and after many tests and a variety of treatments the medics decided your feet could not be saved and they amputated on May 17 [2019].”
The judge further noted: “You subsequently made fraudulent insurance claims to Aviva and Old Mutual Wealth, receiving a total of £466,000 fraudulently by representing that the injuries were organic, caused by sepsis, when you caused the injury seemingly at least in part for sexual gratification.”
Supporting this view, prosecutor Nicholas Lee highlighted Hopper’s combined obsession with self-amputation and a sexual interest in doing so.
“It seems to have been a long-standing ambition of his,” Lee said.
Before undergoing his own leg amputations, Hopper had performed numerous amputation surgeries as part of his role with the NHS, according to BBC News.
Hopper resumed work less than six months after losing his legs. He was suspended from the medical register in December 2023, following his arrest in March 2023.
His involvement was uncovered during the investigation into Gustavson. It was revealed that the two exchanged 1,500 messages discussing Hopper’s lower leg amputations and the method he used.