A British surgeon who carried out hundreds of amputations before having his own legs removed because of self-inflicted injuries has been sentenced to 32 months in prison. Neil Hopper, 49, admitted to two counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of possessing extreme pornography. Prosecutors said Hopper, driven by a sexual fixation, used dry ice to freeze his own legs in 2019. He was hospitalized for weeks before they were amputated below the knee. He then falsely claimed to insurers that the amputations were a result of sepsis, pocketing around $630,000 in payouts, the Guardian reports.

The fraud only came to light after authorities looked into Marius Gustavson, operator of a notorious body modification website, who is now serving a life sentence. The court heard that Hopper sought advice from Gustavson and immersed his feet and lower legs in dry ice while his wife and children were away, texting Gustavson, "It's going to be awesome being a double amputee," the Telegraph reports. "His motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a sexual interest in doing so," prosecutor Nicholas Lee said, per the BBC. The pornography charges were related to videos of body mutilation from Gustavson's website.

Hopper worked at hospitals in Cornwall from 2013 until his suspension in March 2023, shortly after his arrest. He has since been struck from the medical register. The court heard that personal fallout includes an impending divorce and the likely loss of his home. The National Health Service says there has been "no evidence to suggest any risk to patients," but some of Hopper's former patients have sought legal advice out of concerns that he carried out unnecessary surgery, PlymouthLive reports.

Hopper, who returned to work six months after the amputations, had previously attracted positive attention for discussing his amputations in the media and was shortlisted in a European Space Agency search for disabled astronauts. Lawyer Andrew Langdon told the court that Hopper does not regret the amputations but he "bitterly regrets" his dishonesty, the BBC reports. After the operations, Hopper was "totally overwhelmed by support from friends and family which made it even more difficult to tell them what had really happened," Langdon said.