Harold Shipman: Difference between revisions

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Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and founded his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada_television Granada television] documentary ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_in_Action 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coroner 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremation cremation] forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. The matter was brought to the attention of the police, who were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges; ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman#Aftermath 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman#cite_note-13 [13]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman#cite_note-14 [14]]</sup> His last victim was Kathleen Grundy, a former [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Mayor Lady 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_certificate death certificate], recording "old age" as cause of death.

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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coroner 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremation cremation] forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. The matter was brought to the attention of the police, who were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges; ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman#Aftermath 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Mayor Lady 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_certificate 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 ~~[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_%28law%29 will] had~~ been made, apparently by her mother. There were doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded her and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. Burgess told Woodruff to report it, and went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was ~~[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhume~~ exhumed], and when examined found to contain traces of diamorphine (~~[[Heroin|~~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.

Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother. There were doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded her and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. Burgess told Woodruff to report it, and went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed, and when examined found to contain 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_overdose overdoses] of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records indicating they had been in poor health.

''Prescription For Murder'', a book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, reports two theories on why Shipman forged the will. One is that he wanted to be caught because his life was out of control; the other reason, that he planned to retire at age 55 and then leave the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom United Kingdom].

==Trial and imprisonment==

Shipman's trial, presided over by Mr Justice Forbes, began on 5 October 1999. Shipman was charged with the murders of Marie West, Irene Turner, Lizzie Adams, Jean Lilley, Ivy Lomas, Muriel Grimshaw, Marie Quinn, Kathleen Wagstaff, Bianka Pomfret, Norah Nuttall, Pamela Hillier, Maureen Ward, Winifred Mellor, Joan Melia and Kathleen Grundy, all of whom had died between 1995 and 1998.

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 Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and founded his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada_television Granada television] documentary ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_in_Action 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coroner 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremation cremation] forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. The matter was brought to the attention of the police, who were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges; ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman#Aftermath 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman#cite_note-13 [13]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman#cite_note-14 [14]]</sup> His last victim was Kathleen Grundy, a former [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Mayor Lady 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_certificate death certificate], recording "old age" as cause of death.
+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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coroner 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremation cremation] forms for elderly women that he had needed countersigned. The matter was brought to the attention of the police, who were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges; ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman#Aftermath 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Mayor Lady 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_certificate 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_%28law%29 will] had been made, apparently by her mother. There were doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded her and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. Burgess told Woodruff to report it, and went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhume exhumed], and when examined found to contain traces of diamorphine ([[Heroin|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.
+Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a will had been made, apparently by her mother. There were doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded her and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. Burgess told Woodruff to report it, and went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed, and when examined found to contain 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_overdose overdoses] of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records indicating they had been in poor health.
 ''Prescription For Murder'', a book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, reports two theories on why Shipman forged the will. One is that he wanted to be caught because his life was out of control; the other reason, that he planned to retire at age 55 and then leave the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom United Kingdom].
 ==Trial and imprisonment==
 Shipman's trial, presided over by Mr Justice Forbes, began on 5 October 1999. Shipman was charged with the murders of Marie West, Irene Turner, Lizzie Adams, Jean Lilley, Ivy Lomas, Muriel Grimshaw, Marie Quinn, Kathleen Wagstaff, Bianka Pomfret, Norah Nuttall, Pamela Hillier, Maureen Ward, Winifred Mellor, Joan Melia and Kathleen Grundy, all of whom had died between 1995 and 1998.