Harold Shipman
14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004
 
Harold Frederick "Fred" Shipman was a British general      practitioner and convicted serial killer. He is the most      prolific known serial killer in British history. 236 murders are      ascribed to him, though the real number may be much higher.
 
 
On 31      January 2000, a jury found Shipman guilty of 15 murders. The      judge sentenced him to life imprisonment and recommended he      never be released. The whole life tariff was confirmed by the      Home Secretary more than two years later.
After his trial, the Shipman Inquiry, chaired by Dame Janet      Smith, decided there was enough evidence to suggest Shipman had      probably killed around 250 people, of whom 218 could positively      be identified. About 80 percent of them were women. His youngest      victim was Peter Lewis, a 41-year-old man.
Much of Britain's legal structure concerning health care and      medicine was reviewed and modified as a direct and indirect      result of Shipman's crimes, especially after the findings of the      Shipman Inquiry, which began on 1 September 2000 and lasted      almost two years. Shipman is the only British doctor found      guilty of murdering his patients.
Shipman died on 13 January 2004, after hanging himself in his      cell at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire.
Early life
As a child, he attended Whitemoor Primary School in Nottingham,      then New College Nottingham. Known as Fred, he was reportedly a      confident and clever child, adored by his mother Vera who      reportedly favoured him over her other two children. She ruled      his life, telling him what to wear and who his friends should      be. She died in 1963 from lung cancer at the age of 43. Harold      was then 17. He had played a strong supportive role during his      mother's illness, isolating himself from his contemporaries. He      subsequently attended Leeds School of Medicine in 1964, at which      time he met his future wife, Primrose May Oxtoby. They married      on 5 November 1966. She gave birth to their first child, Sarah,      in March 1967; they had four children in all, with sons      Christopher, Samuel and David.
Career
Shipman graduated from Leeds School of Medicine in 1970, and      started work at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West      Riding of Yorkshire. In 1974, Shipman took his first position as      a general practitioner (GP) in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. In      1975 he was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine for his      own use. He was sent briefly to a drug rehabilitation clinic in      York, after which he was pronounced clean. After a brief spell      as medical officer for Hatfield College, Durham, and temporary      work for the National Coal Board, he became a GP at the      Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, Greater Manchester, in 1977.
Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s      and founded his own surgery on Market Street in 1993, becoming a      respected member of the community. He was even interviewed on      the Granada television documentary World in Action on how the      mentally ill should be treated in the community.
Detection
In March 1998, Dr Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in      Hyde—prompted by Deborah Massey from Frank Massey and Son's      funeral parlour—expressed concerns to John Pollard, the coroner      for the South Manchester District, about the high death rate      among Shipman's patients. In particular, she was concerned about      the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he      had needed countersigned. She claimed Shipman was — either      through negligence or intent — killing his patients.
The matter was brought to the attention of the police, who were      unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges; The Shipman      Inquiry later blamed the police for assigning inexperienced      officers to the case. Between 17 April 1998, when the police      abandoned the investigation, and Shipman's eventual arrest, he      killed three more people. His last victim was Kathleen Grundy, a      former Mayor of Hyde, who was found dead at her home on 24 June      1998. Shipman was the last person to see her alive, and later      signed her death certificate, recording "old age" as cause of      death.
Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when      solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made,      apparently by her mother (though there were doubts about its      authenticity). The will excluded her and her children, but left      ï¿½386,000 to Shipman. Burgess told Woodruff to report it, and      went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body      was exhumed and examined. It contained traces of diamorphine      (heroin), often used for pain control in terminal cancer      patients. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a typewriter of the type used to make the forged      will.
The police then investigated other deaths Shipman had certified,      and created a list of 15 specimen cases to investigate. They      discovered a pattern of his administering lethal overdoses of      diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then      forging medical records indicating they had been in poor health.
Prescription For Murder, a book by journalist Brian Masters,      reports two theories on why Shipman forged the will. One is that      he wanted to be caught because his life had got out of control,      the other that he planned to retire at fifty-five and leave the      country.
Trial and imprisonment
Shipman's trial, presided over by Mr Justice Forbes, began on 5      October 1999. Shipman was prosecuted for the murders of Marie      West, Irene Turner, Lizzie Adams, Jean Lilley, Ivy Lomas,      Jermaine Ankrah, Muriel Grimshaw, Marie Quinn, Kathleen Wagstaff,      Bianka Pomfret, Norah Nuttall, Pamela Hillier, Maureen Ward,      Winifred Mellor, Joan Melia, and Kathleen Grundy. All of these      women died between 1995 and 1998.
After deliberating six days, the jury convicted Shipman, on 31      January 2000, of killing 15 patients by lethal injections of      diamorphine, and forging the will of Kathleen Grundy. The trial      judge sentenced him to 15 concurrent life sentences and      recommended he never be released. Shipman also received four      years for forging the will. Two years later, Home Secretary      David Blunkett confirmed the judge's recommendation that Shipman      never be released, just months before British government      ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners.
In February 2002, the General Medical Council formally struck      Shipman off their register.
Shipman consistently denied his guilt, disputing the forensic      evidence against him. He never made any statements about his      actions. His defence tried, but failed, to have the count of      murder of Mrs Grundy, where a clear motive was alleged, tried      separately from the others, where no obvious motive was      apparent.
Though many other cases could have been brought to court, the      authorities concluded it would be hard to have a fair trial, in      view of the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial.      Also, given the sentences from the first trial, a further trial      was unnecessary. The Shipman Inquiry concluded Shipman was      probably responsible for about 250 deaths. The Shipman Inquiry      also suggested that he liked to use drugs recreationally.
Despite the prosecutions of Dr John Bodkin Adams in 1957, Dr      Leonard Arthur in 1981, and Dr Thomas Lodwig in 1990 (amongst      others), Shipman is the only doctor in British legal history      found guilty of killing patients. According to historian Pamela      Cullen, Adams also had been a serial killer, but since he "was      found not guilty, there was no impetus to examine the flaws in      the system until the Shipman case. Had these issues been      addressed earlier, it may have been more difficult for Shipman      to commit his crimes."
Suicide
Shipman was found hanged in his cell at Wakefield Prison at      6:20am on 13 January 2004, on the eve of his 58th birthday, and      was pronounced dead at 8:10am. A Prison Service statement      indicated that Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars      of his cell using bed sheets. Some British tabloids expressed      joy at his suicide and encouraged other serial killers to follow      his example; The Sun ran a celebratory front page headline, "Ship Ship hooray!"
Some of the victims' families, however, said they felt cheated,      as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of      Shipman's confession, and answers as to why he committed his      crimes. David Blunkett noted that celebration was tempting,      saying: "You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman      has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a      bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that      he's done it".
Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, although he      had reportedly told his probation officer that he was      considering suicide so that his widow could receive a National      Health Service (NHS) pension and lump sum, even though he had      been stripped of his own pension. His wife received a full NHS      pension, which she would not have been entitled to if he had      died after the age of 60. FBI profiler John Douglas asserted      that serial killers are usually obsessed with manipulation and      control, and killing themselves in police custody, or committing "suicide by cop", can be a final act of control.
Shortly after Shipman's death, Sir David Ramsbotham wrote an      article in The Guardian newspaper, urging that whole life      sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing. He said      indefinite sentences would be better than whole life sentences      because, while a prisoner might still never be released, they      would always have the hope that they might. However, the ethics      of intentionally misleading prisoners, by using this form of      sentencing for those who have no chance of release, is      debatable.
Aftermath
It is unclear when Shipman started killing people, or even how      many he killed. A report into Shipman's activities submitted in      July 2002 concluded that he had killed at least 215 of his      patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practiced      in Todmorden, West Yorkshire (1974 – 1975) and Hyde, Greater      Manchester (1977 – 1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who      submitted the report, admitted that many more suspicious deaths      could not be definitively ascribed to him. Most of his victims      were elderly women in good health.
In her sixth and final report, issued on 24 January 2005, Smith      reported that she believed that Shipman had killed three      patients, and she had serious suspicions about four further      deaths, including that of a four-year-old girl, during the early      stage of his medical career at Pontefract General Hospital, West      Riding, Yorkshire. Smith concluded the probable number of      Shipman's victims between 1971 and 1998 was 250. In total, 459      people died while under his care. It is uncertain how many of      these were Shipman's victims, as Shipman was often the only      person to certify a death.
The Shipman Inquiry also recommended changes to the structure of      the General Medical Council.
The General Medical Council charged six doctors who signed      cremation forms for Shipman's victims with misconduct, claiming      they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home      visits and his patients' deaths. All these doctors were found      not guilty. Shipman's widow, Primrose Shipman, was called to      give evidence about two of the deaths during the inquiry. She      maintained her husband's innocence both before and after the      prosecution.
In October 2005, a similar hearing was held against two doctors      who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994, who failed to      detect that Shipman deliberately administered a "grossly      excessive" dose of morphine.
A 2005 inquiry into Shipman's suicide found that it "could not      have been predicted or prevented," but that procedures should      nonetheless be re-examined.
In 2005, it came to light that Shipman might have stolen      jewellery from his victims. Over ï¿½10,000 worth of jewellery had      been found in his garage in 1998, and in March 2005, with      Primrose Shipman pressing for it to be returned to her, police      wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to      identify the jewellery.
Unidentified items were handed to the Assets Recovery Agency in      May. In August the investigation ended: 66 pieces were returned      to Primrose Shipman and 33 pieces, which she confirmed were not      hers, were auctioned. The proceeds of the auction went to      Tameside Victim Support. The only piece actually returned to a      murdered patient's family was a platinum-diamond ring, for which      the family were able to provide a photograph as proof of      ownership.
A memorial garden to Shipman's victims, called the Garden of      Tranquillity, opened in Hyde Park (Hyde) on 30 July 2005.