NHS Vascular Surgeon Jailed After Deliberately Freezing Own Legs and Claiming Sepsis

An NHS vascular surgeon who deliberately froze his own legs so they had to be amputated was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after admitting insurance fraud and possessing extreme pornography, a court heard.

Neil Hopper, 49, of Truro, Cornwall, admitted two counts of fraud and three counts of possessing extreme pornographic material at Truro Crown Court. Prosecutors told the court he submerged his legs for around eight hours in a mix of ice and dry ice in May 2019 so the tissue would become non-viable and require below-knee amputations, then falsely told insurers the injuries were caused by sepsis.

The court heard Hopper, who had worked for the state-run National Health Service as a vascular surgeon and had performed hundreds of amputations on patients, received more than $600,000 as part of the insurance claims arising from his self-inflicted injuries. Prosecutor Nicholas Lee said Hopper’s actions were driven by a combination of "obsession with removing parts of his own body and a sexual interest in doing so," and also by financial gain.

At sentencing, Judge James Adkin said he accepted Hopper was remorseful and noted the surgeon had no previous convictions. However, the judge described the "level of harm" in three videos of body mutilation that formed the basis of the pornography charges as "exceptionally high." The pornography offences related to possession of videos depicting severe body mutilation, the court was told.

Hopper pleaded guilty to the fraud counts, which related to his insurance claims, and to the three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images. Sentencing remarks recorded by the court emphasised both the deliberate nature of the injuries and the serious character of the imagery found in his possession.

The case has drawn attention because Hopper had been responsible for carrying out amputations on patients while working as an NHS vascular surgeon before arranging for his own legs to be removed. Medical and legal submissions during the hearing addressed how the injuries were created, the false explanations supplied to insurers, and the forensic evidence linking the self-inflicted damage to the consequent surgical removals.

Defence counsel argued for mitigation including Hopper's expressed remorse and lack of prior convictions. Prosecutors countered that the combination of a long professional career in vascular surgery, the premeditated means used to cause the injuries, and the possession of highly disturbing material warranted a substantial sentence.

The judgment makes clear the court treated both the deceit involved in the insurance claims and the possession of extreme pornography as serious offences. Truro Crown Court imposed the custodial term after considering the need to reflect the gravity of the conduct and to provide public protection.

The NHS said in a statement through court reporting that the matter had been dealt with through the criminal courts; it did not provide further comment on employment or regulatory action in court coverage. The sentencing follows careful consideration of the evidence over the origin of the injuries, the financial claims made to insurers and the nature of the images recovered.

The case highlights legal and ethical concerns around professional conduct by medical practitioners and the additional criminal liabilities that can arise when self-harm is combined with deliberate deception and possession of prohibited material. Court documents show the offending occurred in 2019, with prosecution and sentencing concluded in the most recent hearing at Truro Crown Court.