A British surgeon has been sentenced to two years and eight months in jail after he intentionally had both of his legs amputated to satisfy a "sexual interest."
Neil Hopper, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation for telling insurance companies that he required amputation due to sepsis, as reported by The Guardian. Hopper allegedly placed his legs in dry ice in an effort to freeze his legs below the knee, leaving doctors with no other choice but to amputate.
"His motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a sexual interest in doing so," prosecutor Nicolas Lee told the court, according to BBC.
Lee suspected the amputation was a "long-standing ambition" for Hopper, who performed the same procedure hundreds of times as an NHS vascular surgeon.
His arrest and subsequent suspension sparked concerns from former patients who wondered if he may have unnecessarily advised them to undergo an amputation.
"The charges do not relate to Mr. Hopper's professional conduct and there has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients," a spokesperson for the organization NHS trust said in a statement. "Mr. Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, following his initial arrest."
Hopper received £466,000, or $623,000, from insurance claims to two firms, which was used to buy a campervan, hot tub, wood burner, and more.
He also pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of extreme pornography that was purchased from a website. A judge described the "level of harm" of the three videos, which featured men willingly having their genitals removed, as "exceptionally high."