Dr Harold Shipman
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Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English doctor in general practice and
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
. He is considered to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history, with an estimated 250 victims over roughly 30 years. On 31 January 2000, Shipman was convicted of
murdering Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, ...
15 patients under his care. He was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
with a
whole life order In England and Wales, life imprisonment is a sentence that lasts until the death of the prisoner, although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for parole after a minimum term ("tariff") set by the judge. In exceptional cases a judge may ...
. On 13 January 2004, one day before his 58th birthday, Shipman hanged himself in his cell at
HM Prison Wakefield His Majesty's Prison Wakefield is a Category A men's prison in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison has been nicknamed the "Monster Mansion" along with HM Prison Frankland due to the large num ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
. ''
The Shipman Inquiry ''The Shipman Inquiry'' was the report produced by a British governmental investigation into the activities of general practitioner and serial killer Harold Shipman. Shipman was arrested in September 1998 and the inquiry commenced shortly after he ...
'', a two-year-long investigation of all deaths certified by Shipman, chaired by
Dame Janet Smith Dame Janet Hilary Smith, (born 29 November 1940), styled The Rt Hon. Lady Justice Smith, is an English barrister and former High Court Judge and President of the Council of The Inns of Court. She was the judge who prepared '' The Shipman Inquir ...
, examined Shipman's crimes. It revealed Shipman targeted vulnerable elderly people who trusted him as their doctor, killing them with either a fatal dose of drugs or prescribing an abnormal amount. Shipman, who has been nicknamed "Dr. Death" and the "Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to have been convicted of murdering patients, although other doctors have been
acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...
of similar crimes or convicted of lesser charges. Shipman's case has often been compared to that of doctor
John Bodkin Adams John Bodkin Adams (21 January 18994 July 1983) was a British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, 163 of his patients died while in comas, which was deemed to be worthy of investigation ...
; some nurses, such as
Beverley Allitt Beverley Gail Allitt (born 4 October 1968) is an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering four infants, attempting to murder three others, and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincoln ...
and
Lucy Letby Lucy Letby (born 4 January 1990) is a British former neonatal nurse who was convicted of the murders of seven infants and the attempted murders of seven others between June 2015 and June 2016. Letby came under investigation following a high ...
, have also been convicted of murdering patients in their care.


Early life and education

Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 on the Bestwood Estate, a council estate in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, the second of three children. His father, also Harold Frederick Shipman (1914–1985), was a lorry driver; his mother was Vera (; 1919–1963). rogramme transcript/ref> His working-class parents were devout Methodists. Shipman was particularly close to his mother, who died of
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
when he was aged 17. Her death came in a manner similar to what later became Shipman's own ''
modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...
'': in the later stages of her disease, she had
morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...
administered at home by a doctor. Shipman witnessed his mother's pain subside, despite her terminal condition, until her death on 21 June 1963. On 5 November 1966, he married Primrose May Oxtoby; the couple had four children. Shipman studied medicine at
Leeds School of Medicine The School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Leeds, in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The School of Medicine was founded in 1831. The School of Medicine now forms part of the University's Faculty of Medicine an ...
,
University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
, graduating in 1970.


Career

Shipman began working at Pontefract General Infirmary in
Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
, and in 1974 took his first position as a
general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...
(GP) at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in
Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax. In 2011, it had a popul ...
. The following year, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of
pethidine Pethidine, also known as meperidine and sold under the brand name Demerol among others, is a fully synthetic opioid pain medication of the phenylpiperidine class. Synthesized in 1938 as a potential anticholinergic agent by the German chemist Ot ...
for his own use. He was fined £600 and briefly attended a drug rehabilitation clinic in
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
. He worked as a GP at Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde,
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
, in 1977. Shipman continued working as a GP in Hyde throughout the 1980s and established his own surgery at 21 Market Street in 1993, becoming a respected member of the community. In 1983, he was interviewed in an edition of the
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...
current affairs documentary ''
World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'' on how the mentally ill should be treated in the community. A year after his conviction on charges of murder, the interview was re-broadcast on ''
Tonight with Trevor McDonald ''Tonight'' (often referred to as ''The Tonight Programme'' and formerly known as ''Tonight with Trevor McDonald'') is a British current affairs programme, produced by ITV Studios (formerly Granada Television), ITN and Multistory Media for t ...
''.


Detection of murder

In March 1998, Linda Reynolds, a general practitioner at the Brooke Surgery in Hyde, expressed concerns to John Pollard, the
coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
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 Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
forms for elderly women that he had asked to have countersigned. Police were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges and closed the investigation on 17 April. ''
The Shipman Inquiry ''The Shipman Inquiry'' was the report produced by a British governmental investigation into the activities of general practitioner and serial killer Harold Shipman. Shipman was arrested in September 1998 and the inquiry commenced shortly after he ...
'' later blamed
Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England. , Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. After the investigation was closed, Shipman killed three more people. A few months later, in August, taxi driver John Shaw told the police that he suspected Shipman of murdering 21 patients. Shaw became suspicious as many of the elderly customers he took to the hospital, while seemingly in good health, died in Shipman's care. Shipman's last victim was Kathleen Grundy, a former mayor of Hyde who was found dead at her home on 24 June 1998. He was the last person to see her alive; he later signed her
death certificate A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, a ...
, recording the
cause of death In law, medicine, and statistics, cause of death is an official determination of the conditions resulting in a human's death, which may be recorded on a death certificate. A cause of death is determined by a medical examiner. In rare cases, an ...
as old age. Grundy's daughter,
solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
Angela Woodruff, became concerned when fellow solicitor Brian Burgess informed her that a
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
had been made, apparently by her mother, with doubts about its authenticity. The will excluded Woodruff and her children, but left £386,000 to Shipman. At Burgess' urging, Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and found to contain traces of
diamorphine Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
(heroin), often used for pain control in
terminal cancer Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, rather than fatal injur ...
patients. Shipman claimed that Grundy had been an addict and showed them comments he had written to that effect in his computerised medical journal; however, police examination of his computer showed that the entries were written after her death. Shipman was arrested on 7 September 1998, and was found to own a
Brother A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...
typewriter of the type used to make the forged will. ''Prescription for Murder'', a 2000 book by journalists Brian Whittle and Jean Ritchie, suggested that Shipman forged the will either because he felt his life was out of control and wanted to be caught, or because he planned to retire at 55 and leave the UK. The police investigated other deaths that Shipman had certified and investigated 15 specimen cases. They discovered a pattern of his administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing patients' death certificates, and then falsifying medical records to indicate that they had been in poor health. In addition, an abnormally large number of the deaths occurred around the same time of day (when Shipman was on his afternoon visits) and in the doctor's presence. In 2003, after Shipman had been convicted, a
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
by statistician
David Spiegelhalter Sir David John Spiegelhalter (born 16 August 1953) is a British statistician and a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. From 2007 to 2018 he was Winton Professorship of the Public Understanding of Risk, Winton Professor of the Public Under ...
and others found that Shipman's mortality rates had been broadly in line with national rates between 1988 and 1994, and started increasing in 1995. They suggested that
statistical Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
monitoring could have led to an alarm being raised at the end of 1996, although not before, when there had already been 67
excess death In epidemiology, the excess deaths or excess mortality is a measure of the increase in the number of deaths during a time period and/or in a certain group, as compared to the expected value or statistical trend during a reference period (typicall ...
s of Shipman's female patients aged over 65, before reaching 119 in 1998, when suspicions were first actually raised.


Trial and imprisonment

Shipman's trial began at
Preston Crown Court Preston Crown Court, or more properly the Crown Court at Preston, is a criminal court on the Ring Way in Preston, Lancashire, England. The court is based on two sites in the city; Preston Combined Court Centre on Ringway and Sessions House on Lan ...
on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of
diamorphine Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
, all between 1995 and 1998: Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will. On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
subsequently sentenced Shipman to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he be subject to a
whole life tariff In England and Wales, life imprisonment is a sentence that lasts until the death of the prisoner, although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for parole after a minimum term ("tariff") set by the judge. In exceptional cases a judge may ...
, to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will. On 11 February, 11 days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off the medical register by the
General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of physician, medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the pu ...
(GMC). Two years later, Home Secretary
David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2001, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2005. ...
confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers lost their power to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible given the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already imposed rendered further litigation unnecessary. Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer Peter Moore while in prison. Shipman denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, maintained that he was not guilty, even after his conviction. Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients.
John Bodkin Adams John Bodkin Adams (21 January 18994 July 1983) was a British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, 163 of his patients died while in comas, which was deemed to be worthy of investigation ...
was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a 10-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; he was
acquit In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...
ted and no further charges were pursued. A historian, Pamela Cullen, has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine potential flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.


Death

Shipman hanged himself in his cell at
HM Prison Wakefield His Majesty's Prison Wakefield is a Category A men's prison in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison has been nicknamed the "Monster Mansion" along with HM Prison Frankland due to the large num ...
on 13 January 2004, the day before his 58th birthday. The Medico Legal Centre in Sheffield performed a
post-mortem An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death ...
examination, and an
inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...
was opened. Some of the victims' families said they felt "cheated", as Shipman's suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of a
confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...
, nor answers as to why he committed his crimes. Home Secretary David Blunkett admitted that celebration was tempting: "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 death divided national newspapers, with the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' branding him a "cold coward" and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to occur. However, ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' ran a celebratory front-page headline; "Ship Ship hooray!" ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of UK prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', an article by
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Sir David Ramsbotham, who had formerly served as
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons is the head of HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the senior inspector of prisons, young offender institutions and immigration service detention and removal centres in England and Wales. The current chief inspe ...
, suggested that whole-life sentencing be replaced by indefinite sentencing, for this would at least give prisoners the hope of eventual release and reduce the risk of their ending their own lives by suicide, as well as making their management easier for prison officials. Shipman's motive for suicide was never established, though he reportedly told his
probation officer A probation or parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probat ...
that he was considering suicide to assure his wife's financial security after he was stripped of his
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...
. Primrose Shipman received a full NHS pension that she would not have been entitled to if Shipman had lived past the age of 60. Additionally, there was evidence that Primrose, who had consistently protested Shipman's innocence despite the overwhelming evidence, had begun to suspect his guilt. Shipman refused to take part in courses which would have encouraged acknowledgement of his crimes, leading to a temporary removal of privileges, including the right to telephone his wife. During this period, according to Shipman's cellmate, he received a letter from Primrose exhorting him to "Tell me everything, no matter what." A 2005 inquiry found that Shipman's suicide "could not have been predicted or prevented", but that procedures should nonetheless be re-examined. After Shipman's body was released to his family, it remained in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
for more than a year. His widow was advised by police against burying her husband in case the grave was attacked; the body was eventually
cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium, in the city, attended only by Shipman's widow and the couple's four children.


Aftermath

In January 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior
West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police, formerly the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England ...
detective, was selected to lead an investigation into 22 of the West Yorkshire deaths. Following this, ''The Shipman Inquiry'', submitted in July 2002, concluded that he had killed at least 218 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practised in Todmorden (1974–1975) and Hyde (1977–1998). Janet Smith, the judge who submitted the report, said that there were further deaths about which there was so little evidence that a conclusion on whether they were unlawful killings could not be reached. 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 Infirmary Pontefract Hospital is an acute Hospital, District General Hospital in Pontefract, West Yorkshire operated by the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust. The hospital primarily serves the towns of Pontefract and the City of Wakefield, five towns. __TOC ...
. In total, 459 people died while under his care between 1971 and 1998, but it is uncertain how many of those were murder victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death. Smith's estimate of Shipman's total victim count over that 27-year period was 250. The GMC charged six doctors who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims with misconduct on the grounds that they should have noticed the pattern between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths; they were all found not guilty. In October 2005 the GMC found two doctors who worked at Tameside General Hospital in 1994 guilty of serious professional misconduct for failing to report their concerns and for giving misleading evidence to the Shipman inquiry. ''The Shipman Inquiry'' recommended changes to the structure of the GMC. In 2005, it came to light that Shipman may have stolen jewellery from his victims. In 1998, police had seized over £10,000 worth of jewellery they found in his garage. In March 2005, when Primrose asked for its return, police wrote to the families of Shipman's victims asking them to identify the jewellery. Unidentified items were handed to the
Assets Recovery Agency The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) was a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom. It was established under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) to reduce crime by confiscating the proceeds of any crime. It was granted a new pow ...
in May. The investigation ended in August. Authorities returned 66 pieces to Primrose and
auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...
ed 33 pieces that she confirmed were not hers. Proceeds of the auction went to Tameside Victim Support. The only piece returned to a murdered patient's family was a platinum diamond ring, for which the family provided 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. As of early 2009, families of over 200 of the victims of Shipman were still seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives. In September 2009, letters Shipman wrote in prison to friends were to be sold at auction, but following complaints from victims' relatives and the media, the sale was withdrawn.


Shipman effect

The Shipman case, and a series of recommendations in the ''Shipman Inquiry'' report, led to changes to standard medical procedures in the UK (now referred to as the "Shipman effect"). Many doctors reported changes in their dispensing practices, and a reluctance to risk overprescribing pain medication may have led to under-prescribing. Death certification practices were altered as well. Perhaps the largest change was the movement from single-doctor general practices to multiple-doctor general practices. This was not a direct recommendation, but rather because the report stated that there was not enough safeguarding and monitoring of doctors' decisions. The forms needed for a cremation in England and Wales have had their questions altered as a direct result of the Shipman case. For example, the person(s) organising the funeral must answer, "Do you know or suspect that the death of the person who has died was violent or unnatural? Do you consider that there should be any further examination of the remains of the person who has died?" As of 1 December 2023, Shipman, also nicknamed "Dr. Death" and "The Angel of Death", is the only British doctor to have been convicted of murdering patients, although other doctors, such as Isyaka Mamman, have been
acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...
of similar crimes or convicted of lesser charges and nurses such as
Lucy Letby Lucy Letby (born 4 January 1990) is a British former neonatal nurse who was convicted of the murders of seven infants and the attempted murders of seven others between June 2015 and June 2016. Letby came under investigation following a high ...
,
Beverley Allitt Beverley Gail Allitt (born 4 October 1968) is an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering four infants, attempting to murder three others, and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincoln ...
,
Colin Norris Colin Campbell Norris (born 12 February 1976) is a British serial killer who was convicted of the murder of four elderly patients and the attempted murders of two others in two hospitals in Leeds, England, in 2002. A police investigation showed ...
,
Benjamin Geen Benjamin Geen is a British repeat murderer and former nurse who was convicted of killing two of his own patients and committing grievous bodily harm against 15 others while working at Horton General Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire in 2003 and ...
and
Victorino Chua In 2011, deaths occurred at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. After suspicions were raised concerning the similarities of the deaths, a murder inquiry was launched. Nurse Victorino Chua was found to have poisoned s ...
have also been convicted of murdering patients in their care.


In media

''Harold and Fred (They Make Ladies Dead)'' was a cartoon strip in a 2001 issue of '' Viz'' comic, also featuring serial killer
Fred West Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995) was an English serial killer, who committed at least twelve murders between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire, England—the majority with his second wife, Rose West. The vi ...
. Some relatives of Shipman's victims voiced anger at the cartoon. '' Harold Shipman: Doctor Death'', an
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...
television dramatisation of the case, was broadcast in 2002; it starred
James Bolam James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in '' The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy Fig ...
in the title role. A documentary also titled ''Harold Shipman: Doctor Death'', with new witness testimony about the serial killer, was shown by
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...
as part of its ''Crime & Punishment'' strand on 26 April 2018. The programme was criticised as offering "little new insight". A play titled ''Beyond Belief – Scenes from the Shipman Inquiry'', written by Dennis Woolf and directed by Chris Honer, was performed at the Library Theatre, Manchester, from 20 October to 22 November 2004. The script of the play comprised edited verbatim extracts from
the Shipman Inquiry ''The Shipman Inquiry'' was the report produced by a British governmental investigation into the activities of general practitioner and serial killer Harold Shipman. Shipman was arrested in September 1998 and the inquiry commenced shortly after he ...
, spoken by actors playing the witnesses and lawyers at the inquiry. This provided a "stark narrative" that focused on personal tragedies. A BBC drama-documentary, entitled ''Harold Shipman'' and starring Ian Brooker in the title role, was broadcast in April 2014. The satirical artist
Cold War Steve Cold War Steve is the pen name of Christopher Spencer (born 1975), a British collage artist and satirist. He is the creator of the Twitter feed @coldwarsteve. His work typically depicts a grim, dystopian location in England populated by British ...
regularly features Shipman in his work. ''The Shipman Files: A Very British Crime Story'', a three-part documentary by Chris Wilson, was broadcast on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
on three consecutive nights between 28 and 30 September 2020, and focussed on Shipman's victims and how he went undetected for so long. Podcast episode "Catching a Killer Doctor" from the ''Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford'' podcast series features the story of Harold Shipman and how detection could have been made much earlier with good statistical models. The 2005 song "What About Us?" by British band the Fall makes explicit reference to the Shipman killings ("There was a man going round all the time/He was dishing out drugs/He was a doctor/Dishing out morphine to old ladies"), and the name Shipman is sung as backing vocals during the choruses. Shipman was a member of the Conservative Party. He was mentioned in the
2022 Wakefield by-election A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Wakefield was held on 23 June 2022. It was triggered by the resignation, on 3 May 2022, of Member of Parliament (MP) Imran Ahmad Khan, who was elected as a Conservative at the ...
when Conservative candidate Nadeem Ahmed highlighted his local connections, following Shipman's suicide in Wakefield prison, claiming that voters should "trust Tories like they do GPs after Harold Shipman". In 2023, DeadHappy, a
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
-based
life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...
firm, was criticised for using an image of Shipman in one of its advertisements. The Advertising Standards Authority received more than 70 complaints about the advert. In 2025, Shipman was referenced in the third episode of series 3 of The Traitors, a reality television game show where "Faithful" contestants are tasked with finding and banishing the titular "Traitors". During the roundtable discussion, medical doctor Kasim Ahmed was accused of being a Traitor by fellow contestant Jake Brown, who claimed that it would "make sense" for Ahmed to "save lives during the day" while "murdering by night" within the narrative of the show. Ahmed then stated that he believed Brown was "basically calling imHarold Shipman". This moment caused Shipman to trend on social media.


See also

*
List of serial killers in the United Kingdom A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The British Centre for Crime and Justice Studies defines a seri ...
*
List of serial killers by number of victims A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons.''Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying'' entry o"Serial Killers" (2003) by Sa ...
*
Euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
* Other medical professionals who killed patients, or attempted to: **
2011 Stepping Hill Hospital poisoning incident In 2011, deaths occurred at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. After suspicions were raised concerning the similarities of the deaths, a murder inquiry was launched. Nurse Victorino Chua was found to have poisoned s ...
(one nurse convicted of murder) **
Beverley Allitt Beverley Gail Allitt (born 4 October 1968) is an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering four infants, attempting to murder three others, and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincoln ...
(1991, multiple attempted murders and GBH) **
Nigel Cox (doctor) Nigel Leigh Cox (born 1945 in Surrey) is an English consultant rheumatologist and one of the few doctors in Britain to have been charged with attempted murder. In 1992 he was convicted of the attempted murder of patient Lillian Boyes, and recei ...
(1991, attempted murder) **
Charles Cullen Charles Edmund Cullen (born February 22, 1960) is an American serial killer. While working as a nurse, Cullen murdered dozens—possibly hundreds—of patients during a 16 year career spanning several New Jersey and Pennsylvania medical centers ...
(1988–2003, multiple murders) **
Benjamin Geen Benjamin Geen is a British repeat murderer and former nurse who was convicted of killing two of his own patients and committing grievous bodily harm against 15 others while working at Horton General Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire in 2003 and ...
(2003–04, murder and GBH) **
Niels Högel Niels Högel (born 30 December 1976) is a German serial killer and former nurse who was sentenced to life imprisonment, initially for the murders of six patients, and later convicted of a total of eighty-five murders. Estimates of Högel's alle ...
(2000–2005, multiple murders) **
Jack Kevorkian Murad Jacob Kevorkian (May 26, 1928 – June 3, 2011) was an American pathologist and euthanasia proponent. He publicly championed a terminal patient's right to die by physician-assisted suicide, embodied in his quote, "Dying is not a crime" ...
(1998, murder) **
Lucy Letby Lucy Letby (born 4 January 1990) is a British former neonatal nurse who was convicted of the murders of seven infants and the attempted murders of seven others between June 2015 and June 2016. Letby came under investigation following a high ...
(2015–16, convicted for multiple deaths suspected of being murder) **
Colin Norris Colin Campbell Norris (born 12 February 1976) is a British serial killer who was convicted of the murder of four elderly patients and the attempted murders of two others in two hospitals in Leeds, England, in 2002. A police investigation showed ...
(2002, multiple murders) **
John Bodkin Adams John Bodkin Adams (21 January 18994 July 1983) was a British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, 163 of his patients died while in comas, which was deemed to be worthy of investigation ...
(1946–56, multiple suspected murders) ** Michael Swango (1981–1997, multiple murders) **
Elizabeth Wettlaufer Elizabeth Tracy Mae "Bethe" Wettlaufer (née Parker; born June 10, 1967) is a convicted Canadian serial killer and former registered nurse who confessed to murdering eight senior citizens and attempting to murder six others in southwestern Onta ...
(2007–2016, multiple murders) * Convicted of offences other than homicide: **
Christopher Duntsch Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971) is a former American neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. Death for 33 incidents of gross neurosurgical malpractice while working at hospitals in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, which maimed ...
(2012, injury to an elderly person) **
Jayant Patel Jayant Mukundray Patel (born April 10, 1950 ) is an Indian-born American surgeon who was accused of gross negligence whilst working at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, Australia. Deaths of some of Patel's patients led to widespread public ...
(2003, dishonestly gaining registration (acquitted of manslaughter)) * Suspects acquitted: ** Leonard Arthur (1980, attempted murder of an infant with Down syndrome) ** Thomas Lodwig (1990, murder) ** Howard Martin (2005, murder) ** Jessie McTavish (1974, murder) ** David Moor (1997, murder)


References


External links


Shipman Inquiry
(archived)
BBC – The Shipman Murders

List of suspected murders

Harold Shipman's Clinical Practice 1974–1998


* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shipman, Harold 1946 births 2004 deaths 2004 suicides 20th-century English criminals 20th-century English medical doctors Alumni of the University of Leeds British general practitioners Criminals from Nottinghamshire English people convicted of murder English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment English serial killers History of Tameside Medical scandals in the United Kingdom Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients Medical serial killers People convicted of murder by England and Wales People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School People from Nottingham People with antisocial personality disorder Poisoners Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention Serial killers who died by suicide in prison custody Suicides by hanging in England 1970s in Manchester 1980s in Manchester 1990s in Manchester 20th century in Manchester History of Greater Manchester Murder in Greater Manchester Male suicides