A former NHS surgeon who deliberately froze his legs so they required amputation to satisfy a sexual obsession, then fraudulently claimed nearly £500,000 from insurers, has been jailed for 32 months.
Neil Hopper, 49, a vascular surgeon at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation at Truro Crown Court. He claimed his legs were amputated due to sepsis, when in fact he had used dry ice to freeze them in April 2019, rendering them non-viable. He also admitted three charges of possessing extreme pornographic images from the website EunuchMaker.
The court heard Hopper made insurance claims totalling £466,653.81 from Aviva and Old Mutual Health, spending the money on a campervan, hot tub, wood burner and building works. Judge James Adkin imposed a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and ordered a proceeds of crime investigation to recover funds.
Hopper spoke publicly about his amputation in interviews with the BBC and S4C, and was even shortlisted for the European Space Agency's astronaut programme for people with disabilities. He was suspended from the medical register in December 2023 and his wife is seeking a divorce.
Despite NHS trust assurances that the charges did not relate to his professional conduct and that there was no evidence of risk to patients, former patients have sought legal advice from Enable Law over concerns about their treatment, including some who underwent amputations.
