The NHS surgeon who had the legs removed to satisfy sexual interest is imprisoned for fraud | Crime

A surgeon who frozen his legs so that they need amputation to satisfy a sexual obsession before winning nearly £ 500,000 in insurance complaints was imprisoned.

Neil Hopper, a 49 -year -old vascular surgeon, was sentenced 32 months after pleading guilty to two accusations of fraud by false representation. This concerned complaints made to insurance companies that his legs had been amputated due to sepsis rather than self-inflicted injuries.

He also admitted three accusations of possession of extreme pornographic images relating to the videos of a website called Eunuchmaker.

Despite the insurance of NHS officials, former Hopper patients are now looking for legal advice on the treatment they have received from him for fear that this is not necessary.

On Thursday, at the Crown Court of Truro, judge James Adkin learned that Hopper had been identified after surveys on Marius Gustavson, who was directing the website. Gustavson was imprisoned in perpetuity with a minimum duration of 22 years at the former Bailey last year for having directed a cycle of modification of the extreme body. He made male castration, withdrawal from the penis and other procedures on people as young as 16 years old.

Hopper worked for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust from 2013 until his suspension in March 2023 after his initial arrest. He was suspended from the medical register in December and the court learned that his wife asked for a divorce.

The trust said that the criminal charges against him had not linked to his professional conduct, adding: “There was no evidence suggesting any risk to patients.”

However, former patients – some of whom have suffered amputations – contacted the medical negligence cabinet to allow the right to their concerns about their treatment.

Hopper made a dishonest false representation in Aviva and the old mutual health that his “legs had been amputated due to an illness rather than a self-inflicted injury,” the court said.

In April 2019, he used dry ice to freeze his legs since they were no longer viable and required amputation. It had long been an ambition of sound and he had sexual interest, was informed of the court.

After the amputation, he made complaints to insurers who led to payments of £ 466,653.81. He spent money on a motorhome, a whirlpool, a wood burner and construction works.

In addition to Hopper’s imprisonment, the judge made a prevention prevention of sexual misdeeds for 10 years and established a calendar for a crime survey to recover some of the funds he has fraudulently obtained. The court learned that Hopper would lose his house.

The surgeon spoke of his amputation during interviews in 2023 with the BBC and in a documentary with the Welsh canal, S4C. The court was informed that he had “appreciated the attention” generated by advertising, and he was preselected in the search for the European space agency of an astronaut with a handicap.

The General Medical Council imposed restrictions on his cabinet in April 2023 and he was suspended from the medical register since December 2023.

After Hopper was charged, a spokesperson for Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust said: “The accusations do not concern the professional driving of Mr. Hopper and there was no evidence suggesting any risk for patients. Mr. Hopper worked in the hospitals of Royal Cornwall from 2013 until he was suspended in March 2023, after his initial arrest. ”