Surgeon jailed for freezing his legs to force amputation and fraud

A vascular surgeon who deliberately froze his own legs so they would require amputation and then lied to insurers that the injuries were caused by sepsis was jailed for 32 months on Thursday after admitting multiple fraud and pornography-related charges. Neil Hopper, 49, of Cornwall, told insurers his 2019 amputations were non-self-inflicted and received about 466,654 pounds in payouts, prosecutors said at Truro Crown Court.

Prosecutors told the court Hopper submerged his legs for hours in a mixture of ice and dry ice to inflict irreversible damage, then falsely portrayed the resulting loss of limbs as the consequence of severe infection. He admitted two counts of insurance fraud and three counts of possessing extreme explicit material. A judge ordered consecutive terms of 22 months for the fraud counts and 10 months for the pornography offences. The court also imposed ancillary measures, including directions to recover as much of the defrauded money as possible and a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, according to court reports.

Prosecutor Nicholas Lee said Hopper's conduct was driven both by financial gain and a longstanding sexual interest in amputation. Lee told the court...