Jonathan Morris<\/span>BBC News, South West<\/span> and<\/span><\/p>\n Tamsin Melville<\/span>BBC News, Cornwall<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n An NHS vascular surgeon who had his own legs removed has admitted two counts of insurance fraud and three of 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 “mysterious illness”. In fact he had used ice and dry ice to freeze his own legs so they had to be removed, the court heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The court heard Hopper had a “sexual interest in amputation”.<\/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 amputations and he was operated on.<\/p>\n He did not tell the medics the real cause of his injuries, the court heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The fraudulent insurance claims from two firms totalled more than \u00a3466,000 the court heard.<\/p>\n He was tempted by “greed” the court was told.<\/p>\n He had messaged a friend about the claims saying he should “milk it”.<\/p>\n More than \u00a350,000 of insurance money was sent to his wife, \u00a322,000 on a camper van, another \u00a3255,000 on building works and home improvements and a hot tub.<\/p>\n He “enjoyed” the interest from the media in his case, prosecutors told the court.<\/p>\n “His motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a sexual interest in doing so,” the court was told.<\/p>\n “It seems to have been a long-standing ambition of his,” the court heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After the amputations, he was back at work in just under six months with prosthetic legs, the court heard.<\/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 “shock” to friends.<\/p>\n “He [Hopper] has been committed to working to the service of others,” he said.<\/p>\n “The whole saga is very difficult to comprehend.”<\/p>\n Hopper had suffered body dysphoria since childhood and his feet were an “unwelcome extra and a “persisting never-ending discomfort” to him, said Mr Langdon.<\/p>\n Hopper did not regret the operations, but “bitterly regrets” the “dishonesty” about their cause, he said.<\/p>\n After the operations, Hopper had been “totally overwhelmed by support from friends and family which made it even more difficult to tell them what had really happened”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"BBC](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8381\/live\/a8a81c00-8994-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.jpg.webp\")
BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nTempted by ‘greed’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250828-055926-c20c0c03f5-2.28.1-2\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Instagram\/Bionicsurgeon](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b7f7\/live\/8650f3b0-8995-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp\")
Instagram\/Bionicsurgeon<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘Difficult to comprehend’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
‘No risk to patients’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n