Texts NHS surgeon sent to 'Eunuch Maker' before and after causing his own double amputation as he's struck off
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of bodily harm, which some readers may find distressing.
An NHS surgeon who has been struck off after his connection to a criminal known as the 'Eunuch Maker' who performed amputations on people was discovered sent a series of texts about the double amputation he performed on himself.
Neil Hopper, 50, from Cornwall, has been sentenced to 32 months in prison and handed a 10 year sexual harm prevention order for insurance fraud following his trial last year.
The surgeon has been struck off and lost his job after the court heard that between 21 August, 2018 and 4 December, 2020, Hopper bought videos from Marius Gustavson, who was nicknamed the 'Eunuch Maker' as he ran a website where he showed content of him castrating other men.
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Gustavson was jailed for life in 2024 with a minimum of 22 years for mutilating paying customers, and he had a correspondence with Hopper.
The former surgeon carried out hundreds of amputations over the years and in 2019 he cut off both of his own legs, claiming he had been suffering from sepsis.
However, it transpired that Hopper had actually frozen his legs with dry ice to amputate them.
He later admitted in Truro Crown Court to two counts of fraud and three of possessing extreme pornography, with a 'sexual interest in amputation'.
In messages he sent to Gustavson, Hopper told him: "I've dreamt of this for 20 years."
In another message he told Gustavson 'It's going to be awesome being a double amputee', and also said 'It feels so cool. No feet!' in a further text to the criminal.
“It is evident from the messages that Mr Hopper wished to become an amputee and it was always something he had dreamt of,” prosecutor Nicholas Lee said.
“Something he has been obsessed with and had a sexual interest in becoming an amputee.”
Hopper had worked at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust between 2013 and 2023 when he was arrested and had his medical licence suspended.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust said: "The charges do not relate to Mr Hopper's professional conduct and there has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients.
"Former patients with any questions or concerns about their treatment can contact the Royal Cornwall Hospitals' patient experience team."
However, a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel has had him struck off and tribunal chair Samantha Gray told the BBC that the surgeon posed 'an extremely high level of risk to public protection with no demonstrable lack insight or remedial behaviour'.
General Medical Council representative Robert Dudley said the videos Hopper bought 'had been conducted to, and had resulted in, serious injury' to members of the public.
"It is apparent to the tribunal Hopper was sexually motivated by the videos and by his own amputation," Dudley said.
He added that watching videos from the 'Eunuch Maker' demonstrated 'a blatant disregard for the wellbeing of the public', and that Hopper was 'incomparable' with an NHS surgeon since he admitted to having 'no understanding of the motivations' for what he had done.
Gustavson's actions were described by a judge as 'little short of human butchery', and a court heard he kept his own severed penis in a drawer in his home for some time.
His website welcomed roughly 22,841 visitors from across the world who paid subscription fees to watch him perform his amputations.
Joe Harker