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The case of double amputee surgeon Andrew Neil Hopper, who infected his own legs with dry ice so they could be amputated because he had a fetish for amputations has opened a window into a truly bizarre world of dark web pornography and weird sexual fantasies for cut-off limbs and "stumps that look so sexy".
At a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court today (Thursday September 4) it was heard how Hopper had throughout his life felt that he was in the wrong body and wanted to be a woman, but could not talk to anyone about it in the small rural village in Wales where he grew up.
The court was told how Hopper went to medical school where met his wife and future mother of his children and confided in her about his gender issues but never to his colleagues for fear he would be cast out out and left isolated. Neither did he confide to anyone about his body integrity disorder and the deep-rooted loathing he had for his legs and feet, Cornwall Live reports.
The 49-year-old disgraced surgeon became obsessed with amputations and started researching it and becoming involved in online forums where he shared a sexual desire for the amputation of healthy limbs.
It was in Newport, South Wales, back in 2017 that he made his first purchase of dry ice with a view to submerge his legs in it and rotting his healthy limbs down so they would have to be cut off.
As the pain was too strong he didn't fully go through with the self-harming procedure but as his defence barrister Andrew Langdon, KC, told the court "the failed attempt led him to fill his unhappiness by focusing on his family and his work. On another occasion he tried to inject alcohol into his legs so they would rot.
Mr Langdon told the court how a holiday in France in 2018 when Hopper stepped on a weever fish - which has an extremely painful sting - reignited his sexual desire for seeing his legs amputated. He said: "Mr Hopper described his feet as giving him never ending discomfort, like a constant noise."
It was while in contact with other people like himself with a sexual fetish for amputations or who suffer from body integrity dysmorphia that he came across the Eunuch Maker website.
Body integrity dysmorphia or body integrity identity disorder (BIID) or xenomelia, is a mental health condition where an individual feels that a healthy, fully functional body part, such as a limb, doesn't belong to them, creating a deep desire for its removal (amputation) or paralysis.
Through the Eunuch Maker he came into contact with Marius Gustavson, the man behind the niche perverted site. He purchased three videos from Mr Gustavson showing people having their genitals cut off, including one person cutting his own penis and testicles with a scalpel and showing the severed organ to the camera.
Another video was of a man tied to a bed and again having his privates removed by Gustavson only for the whole thing to go wrong and an ambulance having to be called out as the man started bleeding to death.
The court heard how Hopper, or AdmirerDoc as was his tag on the Eunuch Maker, exchanged hundreds of messages with Gustavson, even telling him that should he produce more videos he would buy them, and that he had watched the videos he had purchased thousands of times and his tastes were "exotic" and how having no legs but stumps would be "sexy".
Both shared a sexual interest in amputations and body parts removal. In 2019, Hopper asked Gustavson for advice on realising his own dream of having no legs.
On his advice he bought cryptocurrency Bitcoins with which he purchased 14kg of medical grade dry ice and painkillers on the dark web that should only be available as prescription from a doctor.
As his family was away, he submerged his lower legs in a bath of dry ice for eight hours, even posting updates to Gustavson telling him how he was looking forward to having no legs. In one message he said: "It's going to be awesome being a double amputee", which he completed with a picture of his erect penis.
While his family was not present in their house in Truro at the time, a friend came round to find him in bed, unwell, pale and in great pain and half conscious.
Paramedics were called and Hopper was first taken to Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske, Truro, where he was looked after by his own colleagues who worked tirelessly to try to save his legs from necrosis. As they couldn't, Hopper was transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth where he was placed in a hyperbaric chamber and given the strongest antibiotics available but on May 10, 2019, NHS staff made the decision that his legs could not be saved and had to be amputated.
They were cut below the knee seven days later. Hopper was discharged at the end of May that year.
Nicholas Lee, prosecuting, told the court how at no time Hopper mentioned the real reasons for his legs infection and subsequent sepsis. Yet he continued to message Gustavson telling him how it was "sexy to have no feet" complete with a picture of his bandaged stumps. In messages Hopper said: "It's so cool. No feet!!!"
It was after that, once he realised that he could receive hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation from his two life insurance policies with Aviva and Old Mutual Wealth, that he decided to "milk his amputations".
He made two claims backed by his own medical expertise as a vascular surgeon and managed to convince his insurance companies that his legs had to be amputated as a result of sepsis caused by an unknown virus, rather than self harm, which was not covered by his policies.
The claims came about as Hopper enjoyed a new notoriety and even TV fame as a "hero surgeon" who managed to return to work despite the adversity he faced and became a champion for amputees like himself. It was all a lie of course and he managed to claim a total of £466,653.81 from the two insurance firms.
Mr Lee told the court that by 2022 Hopper, who had returned to work at Treliske by the end of 2019, had spent all the compensation money on a new campervan, building work to adapt his home, and making improvements - a hot tub, audio equipment - as well as a £52,000 payment to his wife, whom the court heard is in the process of divorcing him.
He even used some of the cash to pay off his debts and HMRC for tax money owed. Mr Lee told the court how in that period, Hopper also received some £44,000 from the Department for Work and Pension in disability benefits, which he said had been borne from wanting "to milk the amputation for as much financially as possible".
It all came crashing down for Hopper when the Met Police started investigating the Eunuch Maker website and found the conversations and purchases of three videos by Hopper. Devon and Cornwall Police then found evidence that he had defrauded his insurance policies.
Hopper was arrested and today pleaded guilty and was sentenced for two counts of fraud by false representation, namely the injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and were not self-inflicted, intending to make a gain and three counts of encouraging/assisting in the commission of an indictable only offence in that between August 2018 and December 2020 he purchased three videos from a website called The EunuchMaker showing the removal of limbs and encouraged Marius Gustavson to remove body parts of third parties, which was capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable only offence, namely intentional infliction of injuries which amount to grievous bodily harm, believing that the offence would be committed and that his act would encourage or assist in its commission.
He pleaded guilty to all five charges today (September 4). Meanwhile Gustavson is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 22 years.
Mr Lee said the insurance fraud had not been sophisticated in nature but like all fraud "it is not a victimless crime" for it leaves insurance companies feeling the cost and passing it on to honest customers.
He added: "This is very much a unique case." He said it was his position as an esteemed surgeon which had made the fraud even more callous in that a person in such a role needs to be trusted. Mr Lee said: "It had an impact on other patients as precious NHS resources were diverted to help save Mr Hopper's legs when they could have gone to other patients."
Mr Langdon, defending, said Hopper had been a well respected and caring medical professional who had put the care for his patients at the heart of his work. He said colleagues had great respect for the quality of his work.
"This whole saga is very difficult to comprehend for people who knew him and for the rest of us too," he said. "From a young age Mr Hopper felt he was in the wrong body and was troubled by his gender and wanted to be female. In private he wore his sister's clothes.
"He suffered from body integrity dysmorphia and had a profound distaste for his feet. he never felt they part of him. He felt they were an unwelcome extra, but felt unable to discuss anything with anyone."
Mr Langdon said Hopper had no regrets about the root cause of his troubles but felt great remorse for the loved ones he had let down and for misleading his medical colleagues. He said: "He feels he should not have let resources be wasted on his treatment."
He added: "He doesn't justify or excuse his actions. He regrets the dishonesty. Buying videos from Eunuch Maker was shameful and disturbing. But he doesn't regret the fact of the amputation which he had wanted to do for 20 years."
Mr Landgon said Hopper also feels shame that the family home will be seized to repay his fraudulent claims and that his family will suffer for years from his action and his children will be bullied for it.
He told the court that Hopper has been suspended as a doctor by the General Medical Council since October 2024 and with the infamy the publicity around his case has generated, his career is over, his marriage has broken down. He added: "He has reason to be fearful because of the media attention this has generated.
"It is unlikely that anyone will feel sympathy for him but he will be bullied in the future. He regrets the impact this has had on his family. He is deeply sorry for the hurt he has caused to those closest to him. He knows there can be no forgiveness because of the impact this has had on others.
"When he went on Eunuch Maker it was foolhardy but at that stage he had no idea it would all lead. He made some catastrophic choices."
Mr Langdon also read a character reference from a colleague of Hopper praising him as a surgeon and the quality of his work and empathy and care for his patients. he said Hopper had suffered a great deal in the six years since it all came to light and asked for clemency.
His Honour Judge James Adkin said Hopper had been a wilful participant when he joined Eunuch Maker and had provided encouragement when it had the potential to cause serious irremediable harm to participants.
He sentenced Hopper - who sported longish foppish hair and a grey tracksuit and at some point he sobbed his head in his hands - to a total of 32 months in prison. He will serve 40 per cent before being eligible for parole. He also imposed a sexual harm prevention order on Hopper for 10 years.
After the hearing a spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust said: "Those at our hospitals who knew, worked with and cared for Mr Hopper have been shocked by what has happened. We have been supporting and counselling them since he was first charged and are continuing to do so.
"While the details of the charges are shocking, it is important to stress that the convictions do not relate to Mr Hopper's professional conduct. During a thorough and painstaking police investigation there were no links found to any patients he treated during his work.
"Mr Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, immediately following his arrest. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust have carried out our own comprehensive clinical reviews of surgery carried out by Neil Hopper in that time, including engaging an experienced independent clinical expert to review decisions to operate.
"We want to reassure the public that our exhaustive investigations have found no evidence whatsoever to indicate any risk or harm to patients at our hospitals. Former patients with any questions or concerns about their treatment can contact the Royal Cornwall Hospitals' Patient Experience team on 01872 25 2793, or email rcht.patientexperience@nhs.net."
Also after the hearing, Assistant Chief Constable Jim Pearce from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "We note the guilty plea and 32 month custodial sentence given to Neil Hopper at Truro Crown Court today. Devon and Cornwall Police began our investigation related to the activities of Hopper in February 2023 and we have worked closely with partners at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and General Medical Council throughout.
"It should be noted that at this stage none of the criminal charges related to Hopper's professional conduct with no risk to patients he treated in his work at the hospital identified during the current police investigation."
There will be a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing next year to recoup the money.