Neil Hopper, a 49-year-old vascular surgeon, is heading to prison in the UK after he froze his legs to the point where they would require amputation and then filed a £500,000 insurance claim. He sought the amputation to satisfy a sexual fetish.
The court found that Hopper had issued a false claim when he said that his "legs had been amputated because of illness rather than self-inflicted injury." His process was to freeze his legs using dry ice, which "had long been an ambition of his" and something in which "he had a sexual interest."
After the amputation, he was featured in many interviews on media, including on the BBC and in documentary from Welsh language channel S4C. He "enjoyed the attention," the court heard, and was "shortlisted in the European Space Agency’s search for an astronaut with a disability," The Guardian notes.
The prison term follows a conviction and a guilty plea on two charges of fraud by false representation, The Guardian reports. In his insurance claim, he said the amputation was due to sepsis when in fact he brought it on himself on purpose.
Hopper also had what are being called "extreme pornographic images" from a website called EunuchMaker and admitted guilt to three charges stemming from those. It was his connection to that website that made him identifiable to police.
The site, run by Marius Gustavson, was under investigation prior to being given a life sentence at the Old Bailey. Gustavson's crime was "leading an extreme body modification ring" that engaged in voluntary castration as well as other barbaric practices, with some participants as young as 16-years-old.
Hopper's wife is seeking a divorce and some of his patients have engaged legal counsel to uncover if procedures they underwent at his hands were actually medically necessary. Hopper has also been suspended from the Royal Cornwall hospitals under the NHS. He worked there for 10 years, from 2013-23.
"There has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients," the NHS trust said. Patients, however, are still seeking legal advice.
The court found that Hopper had issued a false claim when he said that his "legs had been amputated because of illness rather than self-inflicted injury." His process was to freeze his legs using dry ice, which "had long been an ambition of his" and something in which "he had a sexual interest."
After the amputation, he was featured in many interviews on media, including on the BBC and in documentary from Welsh language channel S4C. He "enjoyed the attention," the court heard, and was "shortlisted in the European Space Agency’s search for an astronaut with a disability," The Guardian notes.
The prison term follows a conviction and a guilty plea on two charges of fraud by false representation, The Guardian reports. In his insurance claim, he said the amputation was due to sepsis when in fact he brought it on himself on purpose.
Hopper also had what are being called "extreme pornographic images" from a website called EunuchMaker and admitted guilt to three charges stemming from those. It was his connection to that website that made him identifiable to police.
The site, run by Marius Gustavson, was under investigation prior to being given a life sentence at the Old Bailey. Gustavson's crime was "leading an extreme body modification ring" that engaged in voluntary castration as well as other barbaric practices, with some participants as young as 16-years-old.
Hopper's wife is seeking a divorce and some of his patients have engaged legal counsel to uncover if procedures they underwent at his hands were actually medically necessary. Hopper has also been suspended from the Royal Cornwall hospitals under the NHS. He worked there for 10 years, from 2013-23.
"There has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients," the NHS trust said. Patients, however, are still seeking legal advice.
