An NHS vascular surgeon who carried out hundreds of amputations operations has admitted cutting his legs off on purpose then lying about losing them to sepsis to claim a £466,000 insurance payout.
Neil Hopper, 49, pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by false representation relating to claims made to insurance companies that his legs had been amputated due to illness rather than self-inflicted injury.
He also admitted three charges of possessing extreme pornographic images, relating to videos by a website called the EunuchMaker.
Hopper, of St Erme, Truro, Cornwall, appeared before Truro Crown Court on Thursday to enter his guilty pleas.
He previously appeared on This Morning in 2020 where he claimed he developed sepsis after becoming unwell during a family camping trip in 2019.
The surgeon, who won a Brave Briton award, told the BBC in 2023: ‘My life is more interesting because of what’s happened to me.’
Charges state that between June 3 and July 20 in 2019, Hopper dishonestly made a false representation to insurers Aviva and Old Mutual Health, that his ‘legs had been amputated because of illness rather than self-inflicted injury’.
During the court hearing on Thursday, Judge James Adkin, the honorary recorder of Truro, heard Hopper was identified following investigations into Marius Gustavson who ran the The EunuchMaker website.
Gustavson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years at the Old Bailey last year for leading an extreme body modification ring, which carried out male castration, penis removal and other procedures on people as young as 16.
Charges state that between June 3 and July 20 in 2019, Hopper dishonestly made a false representation to insurers Aviva and Old Mutual Health, that his ‘legs had been amputated because of illness rather than self-inflicted injury’.
During the court hearing on Thursday, Judge James Adkin, the honorary recorder of Truro, heard Hopper was identified following investigations into Marius Gustavson who ran the The EunuchMaker website.
Gustavson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years at the Old Bailey last year for leading an extreme body modification ring, which carried out male castration, penis removal and other procedures on people as young as 16.
The Norwegian national once cooked human testicles to eat in a salad, and also had his own penis removed with a kitchen knife, and froze his own leg so it was amputated.
The Old Bailey heard last year that extreme body modification is linked to a subculture where men become ‘nullos’, short for genital nullification, by having their penis and testicles removed.
Gustavson netted more than £300,000 between 2017 and 2021 after posting videos of various procedures on his Eunuch Maker website.
Hopper has not worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust since March 2023.
The General Medical Council placed restrictions on his practice the following month, and he has been suspended from the medical register since December 2023.
After Hopper was charged with five offences, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – where Hopper had been employed for a decade – released a statement.
A spokesperson said: ‘The charges do not relate to Mr Hopper’s professional conduct and there has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients.
‘Mr Hopper worked in at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, following his initial arrest.’