{"id":92702,"date":"2025-09-04T20:38:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T20:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92702"},"modified":"2025-09-04T20:38:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T20:38:47","slug":"surgeon-jailed-after-amputation-of-own-legs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92702","title":{"rendered":"Surgeon jailed after amputation of own legs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 16 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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An NHS vascular surgeon who had his own legs removed has been jailed for two years and eight months for insurance fraud and possessing extreme pornography.<\/p>\n

Neil Hopper, 49, of Truro, Cornwall, carried out hundreds of amputation operations before having his own legs removed in 2019.<\/p>\n

Truro Crown Court heard he lied to insurers by claiming that injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and not self-inflicted.<\/p>\n

It heard that in May 2019 Hopper had below knee amputations after a \u201cmysterious illness\u201d. In fact he had used ice and dry ice to freeze his own legs so they had to be removed, said prosecutor Nicholas Lee.<\/p>\n

The court heard Hopper, who admitted two counts of fraud and three of possessing extreme pornography, had a \u201csexual interest in amputation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Judge James Adkin said in sentencing that he accepted that Hopper, who had no previous convictions, was remorseful.<\/p>\n

However, the \u201clevel of harm\u201d in three videos of body mutilation which were the subject of the pornography charges, was \u201cexceptionally high\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Hopper had both legs amputated after complaining that his feet were in pain.<\/p>\n

He was treated for suspected sepsis before he was told by surgeons that he should have his legs amputated and he was operated on.<\/p>\n

He did not tell the medics the real cause of his injuries, the court heard.<\/p>\n

\"Surgeon
Neil Hopper had caused shock among former patients said a law firm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fraudulent insurance claims from two firms totalled more than \u00a3466,000 the court heard.<\/p>\n

Hopper had been tempted by \u201cgreed\u201d said Mr Lee.<\/p>\n

He had messaged a friend about the claims saying he should \u201cmilk it\u201d, the court heard.<\/p>\n

He \u201cenjoyed\u201d the interest from the media in his case, Mr Lee told the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a sexual interest in doing so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to have been a long-standing ambition of his,\u201d he said.
Feet were \u2018unwelcome extra\u2019<\/p>\n

After the amputations, he was back at work in just under six months with prosthetic legs.<\/p>\n

He was arrested in March 2023 and has been suspended from the medical register since December 2023.<\/p>\n

Andrew Langdon, KC, said in mitigation, that the offences had been a \u201cshock\u201d to friends.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cHe [Hopper] has been committed to working to the service of others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole saga is very difficult to comprehend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The extreme pornography offences were connected to videos of body mutilations that Hopper had purchased online and did not include children, the court heard.<\/p>\n

Hopper was identified following investigations into Marius Gustavson who ran the EunuchMaker website.<\/p>\n

Mr Lee told the court that Hopper had bought three videos from the website for \u00a310 and \u00a335, respectively, showing men willingly having their genitals removed.<\/p>\n

He also exchanged about 1,500 messages with Gustavson about his own lower leg amputations and how he had done it, including asking how much dry ice he used.<\/p>\n

Gustavson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years at the Old Bailey in 2024 for leading an extreme body modification ring.<\/p>\n

Hopper had suffered body dysphoria since childhood and his feet were an \u201cunwelcome extra\u201d and a \u201cpersisting never-ending discomfort\u201d to him, said Mr Langdon.<\/p>\n

\"Surgeon
Hopper had an obsession with removing parts of his own body, the court heard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hopper did not regret the operations, but \u201cbitterly regrets\u201d the \u201cdishonesty\u201d about their cause, he said.<\/p>\n

After the operations, Hopper had been \u201ctotally overwhelmed by support from friends and family which made it even more difficult to tell them what had really happened\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hopper, who is originally from Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, had been employed by the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) from 2013 until he was arrested in March 2023.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust said after the case that the convictions did not relate to Mr Hopper\u2019s \u201cprofessional conduct\u201d at its hospitals.<\/p>\n

The trust had carried out \u201ccomprehensive clinical reviews of surgery\u201d by Hopper, \u201cincluding engaging an experienced independent clinical expert to review decisions to operate\u201d, they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to reassure the public that our exhaustive investigations have found no evidence whatsoever to indicate any risk or harm to patients at our hospitals,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Shock and grave concern\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Assistant Chief Constable Jim Pearce said after the case that Devon and Cornwall Police had \u201cworked closely\u201d with the trust and \u201cnone of the criminal charges related to Hopper\u2019s professional conduct with no risk to patients he treated in his work at the hospital identified during the current police investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, former patients of Hopper, including some who underwent amputations, have contacted a South West-based medical negligence firm.<\/p>\n

They said they were concerned about the treatment they received from Hopper, in light of the criminal charges brought against him.<\/p>\n

Mike Bird, partner at Enable Law, said the case had caused \u201cshock and grave concern\u201d among his former patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome have had life-changing surgery and are now worried it was not really needed,\u201d Mr Bird said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crown Prosecution Service said it would be making an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2022 to recover the money that Hopper acquired through the fraud.<\/p>\n

\"Surgeon
Hopper was back at work six months after the operations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jason Abbot, 38, from Hayle, whose foot was amputated by Hopper in November 2022 after painful arthritis in an ankle, said he had no concerns about his care.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he \u201cfelt shocked\u201d that Hopper had been convicted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought he would do anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopper also worked at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, Wales, for a period of training in general surgery in 2011, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has confirmed.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the BBC in 2023 he also said he had worked in Swansea and Bangor.<\/p>\n

The relevant health boards have been asked to confirm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SurgeonAn NHS vascular surgeon who had his own legs removed has been jailed for two years and eight months for insurance fraud and possessing extreme pornography. Neil Hopper, 49, of Truro, Cornwall, carried out hundreds of amputation operations before having his own legs removed in 2019. Truro Crown Court heard he lied to insurers by [\u2026]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2019,1910,7930,117,10,9,7931],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hp-news-10","category-international","category-neil-hopper","category-news","category-politics","category-popular","category-surgeon-jailed"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92702\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}