AN NHS vascular surgeon who froze his own legs so they had to be removed has been struck off the medical register after being deemed a high risk to public protection.

Neil Hopper, 50, from Truro, was sentenced to 32 months in prison in September last year and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order after a court heard he possessed extreme pornography and claimed more than £460,000 in insurance payouts by lying about the cause of his injuries.

A three-day hearing held by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) concluded that “a surgeon receiving sexual gratification from amputation or mutilation pornography is not compatible with how the public should perceive a competent doctor, and that this behaviour would seriously damage public confidence in the profession”.

On Friday last week, the panel found Hopper’s fitness to practise was impaired and ordered his removal from the medical register.

Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals from 2013 and carried out hundreds of amputation operations until his suspension from duty in March 2023. His own legs were amputated in 2019; the following year, he received the Against All Odds title at the 2020 Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons.

The tribunal heard how Hopper’s convictions followed a Metropolitan Police investigation into The Eunuch Maker website, run by Marius Gustavson and offering "extreme body modifications" including castration and penile removal.

The fraud charge stated that Hopper dishonestly made a false representation to insurers that his amputations were the result of sepsis rather than self-inflicted injury, resulting in critical illness cover payments totalling more than £460,000 from Aviva and Old Mutual Wealth.

Despite Hopper’s expressions of remorse and supportive testimonials, the tribunal found these carried limited weight due to the gravity of his offences. It found his insight limited, especially given his medical specialty.

Regarding the insurance fraud, Hopper claimed there was no financial motivation and that he was concerned about the impact of his disability on his family. However, the tribunal noted his insurance claims were not made impulsively, with multiple chances to reconsider; and most of the money was spent on luxury goods and debt repayment, with only some used to fund prosthetics and adapt his home.

The panel described Hopper’s behaviour as falling "at the extreme high end of the spectrum of seriousness". As such it found there was "an extremely high risk to public protection in this case."

It ruled that nothing short of erasure would be sufficient to protect the public and maintain confidence in the profession, saying: “The tribunal considered that even a long period of suspension would not be adequate in mitigating the serious concerns posed to the protection of the public.”

Tribunal chair Samantha Gray added: "In all the circumstances, the tribunal found that Dr Hopper’s convictions and the context surrounding them are incompatible with continued registration.

"It was satisfied that no other sanction aside from erasure would adequately uphold public confidence in the profession or the regulator, and that erasure is therefore the proportionate sanction."

A spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) said: “Mr Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, immediately following his arrest, and has since been dismissed. Whilst we were not asked to give evidence at the tribunal, Mr Hopper’s removal from the GMC register is the outcome we expected.

“RCHT carried out clinical reviews of surgery carried out by Mr Hopper, including engaging an experienced clinical expert to review decisions to operate. These were provided to the police. Our investigations found no evidence to indicate any risk or harm to patients. We have also received reassurance on surgical outcomes from the National Vascular Registry.”

Any former patients with questions or concerns about their treatment are welcome to contact the RCHT Patient Experience team on 01872 252793, or by email at [email protected].