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Shipman
report: System failed patients
July 19, 2002 Posted: 8:54 AM EDT (1254 GMT)
Dame Janet said only Shipman would know the true murder figure
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LONDON, England -- Dame Janet Smith has criticised the lack of medical
and legal controls that allowed British doctor Dr. Harold Shipman
to kill at least 215 of his patients.
In her 2,000-page report Dame Janet, a high court judge who headed
the public inquiry, said the systems that should have safeguarded
his patients had failed.
Shipman, a GP in Manchester, northwest England, was convicted for
the deaths of 15 elderly women patients in 2000, but the inquiry revealed
that at least 215 patients, mainly women, were murdered. (Full Story)
A further 45 were "suspicious," the report found.
The consequences had tragic consequences on the families of those
who were murdered, but also on the community which became shocked
and shaken in its previously unquestioning faith in the medical profession.
"No-one reading this report can fail to be shocked by the enormity
of the crimes committed by Shipman," Dame Janet, who investigated
the killings, said in her report on Friday.
"His activities have brought tragedy upon them and also upon
the communities in which he practiced."
The High Court judge added in her interim report: "It is deeply
disturbing that Shipman's killing of his patients did not arouse suspicion
for so many years.
"The systems which should have safeguarded his patients against
his misconduct, or at least detected misconduct when it occurred,
failed to operate satisfactorily."
Dame Janet said Shipman was able to hide behind the respectable veneer
of his profession. It ensured that very few relatives felt "any
real sense of disquiet" about the circumstances of the victims'
deaths. (Suburban Slayer)
"Those who did harbour private suspicions felt unable to report
their concerns," she said.
"Deeply shocking though it is, the bare statement that Shipman
has killed over 200 patients does not fully reflect the enormity of
his crimes.
"As a general practitioner, Shipman was trusted implicitly by
his patients and their families. He betrayed their trust in a way
and to an extent I believe is unparalleled in history," she said
in her report.
His motive for the killings did not become any clearer, Dame Janet
reported.
Shipman himself has never admitted his guilt or given any reason for
the murders.
Dame Janet ruled out financial gain or sexual depravity as motives,
adding only Shipman would know the reason and the real numbers involved.
She added the bearded doctor was highly dominant and addictive, but
his true psyche remains a mystery.
"During the visit he would kill the patient. Afterwards he behaved
in a variety of ways and had a variety of explanations for what had
happened," Smith said.
"The way in which Shipman could kill, face the relatives and
walk away unsuspected would be dismissed as fanciful if described
in a work of fiction."
Dame Janet said the second phase of her report would consider how
to ensure that unexpected or unexplained deaths were reported and
that their causes were properly investigated.
"By the end of the inquiry, I hope to be able to make recommendations
which will seek not only to ensure that a doctor like Shipman would
never again be able to evade detection for so long, but also to provide
systems which the public will understand and in which they will have
well-founded confidence," she said. |
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/07/19/shipman.relatives.reaction/index.html
Admit slaughter, says local priest
July 19, 2002 Posted: 9:37 AM EDT (1337 GMT)
The unspectacular interior of Shipman's surgery in Hyde, Greater Manchester
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LONDON, England -- The Roman Catholic priest in Hyde, where 143 of
mass killer Dr. Harold Shipman's 215 victims died, appealed for him
to end his denials and tell the truth about his mass slaying spree.
Father Denis Maher said: "Dr Shipman, please, please, please
own up to what you have done -- not only for Hyde but for yourself
too."
The parish priest at St Paul's Roman Catholic Church, Hyde said he
was unable to convey "the full range of feelings" of relatives
whose emotions were running high with the publication of the report.(Full
Story)
He said his parishioners were shocked to see it in black and white
that their loved ones had been "unlawfully killed " -- a
euphemism for murder, Fr. Maher told Sky News television.
"I've seen people shaking with inconsolable grief in the last
few days," Fr. Maher said.
"There is not one person in my parish of Hyde who has not been
touched by the evil this man did when he was here," he added.
(Families' 'Devastation')
He said he himself was unable to come to terms with what had happened
in Hyde. "I've been into people's homes. I've been with families
a half an hour later when they find their loved ones dead.
"He took away so many lovely, lovely people from this parish
-- most of them came to Mass on a daily basis."
Fr. Maher added: "I'm finding it really difficult in the whole
area of forgiveness. I know I have to forgive but it is difficult.
I am very angry."
Later relatives of 215 victims were holding a news conference to describe
their horror at learning the full extent of of his mass slayings.
(The system failed)
A further 45 deaths of Shipman's patients were ruled inconclusive
by the inquiry report by Dame Janet Smith and their relatives were
having to come to terms with the agony of never knowing if they were
murdered or not.
Suzanne Brock whose mother Edith, 74, was killed by Shipman told Sky
News of her battle to find out the truth. (Silent Suburban Slayer)
Brock said relatives had faced a number of hurdles in her quest for
justice -- first to get the attention of the police, then to get through
the inquest, and finally to face the public inquiry.
"Every step of the way we have had to fight," Brock said.
Some said the publication of the report would at last allow the people
of Hyde to grieve.
But Fr. Maher said: "It is so early to talk about closure. I
can honestly see no end to this for a long, long time." |
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/07/19/shipman.relatives.quotes/index.html
Our fight vindicated - relatives
July 19, 2002 Posted: 10:25 AM EDT (1425 GMT)
Christopher Rudol, whose father Ernest was one of Shipman's victims,
reacts in Manchester, England, after hearing the news of the Shipman
Inquiry
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HYDE, England -- Relatives of some of the 215 victims murdered by
Dr. Harold Shipman described on Friday how they felt "totally
vindicated" by the decision to press for a public inquiry so
"no stone was left unturned."
"It will be recalled that we had to go to the High Court to win
this public inquiry," the families' solicitor Ann Alexander told
a news conference in Hyde, where at least 143 died at Shipman's hands.(Full
Story)
"I firmly believe the decision of the families to fight for a
public inquiry has been wholly vindicated by the process to date."
Alexander, who represents the families of nearly 300 of Shipman's
victims and alleged victims, said nobody would ever be able to appreciate
what those families have been through and how they felt today.
"Harold Shipman is without equal as a murderer," she said.
Although the extent of his killing was now public, it would be "some
time" before the relatives of those he killed could come to terms
with what has happened, she said.
QUOTE
"If you do not trust your doctor who can you trust?"
-- Doris McNee
Hyde resident
Alexander praised Dame Janet Smith's inquiry as "thorough and
meticulous."
She said the document was only the first phase of the inquiry that
was still examining "the systemic and personal failures which
allowed Shipman to kill again and again" to stop anything like
it ever happening again. (The system failed)
"Public scrutiny has revealed the manifest shortcomings in the
first police investigation... This would probably have been missed
had this inquiry not been public.
"There is no doubt that in my mind that we would never have got
to the truth in private."
Alexander also said the families thought the role of the British doctors'
governing body, the GMC, was "probably for them the most important
matter which needs to be examined."
She said that in the 1960s it had been reported to the GMC that Shipman
had been convicted of both drugs and forgery offences but the doctors'
body "didn't take any steps at all."
Jane Hibbert, whose mother Hilda Hibbert was among those murdered
told the news conference it was had been "extremely hard"
time.
She should be shocked at the number of victims but it had been evident
the figure was more than 100, she said.
"It's hard to come to terms with it, but I'm glad that the relatives
have had individual verdicts and have been able to come to some kind
of finality for their own families."
The son of another of Shipman's victims, Peter Wagstaff said he did
not think the doctor's motivation would ever come to light.
"I don't think I've met anybody yet that's ever said they hate
him, because I don't think they understand the situation," Wagstaff
told the news conference.
Shipman was able to defy the system
"You can't make sense of it all, you can't come to the right
terminology to say what you think of him.
"You can obviously despise him and come to terms with the fact
you have been dealing with one of the most evil men in history but
everyone must have their own personal feelings about what they think."
(Admit slaughter says local priest)
Alexander was asked about compensation but said this was not the motive
of the families in pressing for a public inquiry.
"These families did not start this fight in a bid to win compensation.
These families wanted to make sure that systems would be changed and
lessons would be learned and that in itself would be a fitting memorial
to those they had lost."
Suzanne Brock whose mother Edith, 74, was killed by Shipman told Sky
News it had been an uphill battle to find out the truth.
Brock said relatives had faced a number of hurdles in her quest for
justice -- first to get the attention of the police, then to get through
the inquest, and finally to face the public inquiry.
"Its been a struggle," said Brock. "Its been a rollercoaster
of emotion. Every step of the way we have had to fight for the families
who have been affected by this," Brock said.
"We shouldn't have had to. We are the victims and the victims
families in all this."
Dr Harold Shipman's surgery in Hyde, Greater Manchester
The daughter-in-law of one of Shipman's patients, Norma Dean, 66,
told the UK's Press Association: "What annoys me is that the
police had a chance to find this out before and they did not.
"People knew there was something wrong and if they had taken
it further a lot of people would still be here today."
Dominic Henson, 65, of Newton, near Hyde, whose son and daughter-in-law
were patients of Shipman, said that it was costing too much to keep
the killer alive in prison.
He said: "How did he get away with that many people? Somebody
must have been suspicious well before now.
"They should give him one of his own injections."
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http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/UK/07/19/shipman.profile/index.html?related
Shipman: The silent suburban slayer
July 19, 2002 Posted: 9:35 AM EDT (1335 GMT)
The surgey where the deadly Shipman worked from
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By CNN's Avril Stephens
LONDON, England -- Harold Shipman was the silent suburban killer,
targeting elderly women with names like Norah, Winifred, and Irene,
and killing them behind the lace curtains of their own homes.
His motives
remain a mystery. Prosecutors said he had a lust for power over
life and death and a desire to "play God." He also tried
to gain financially from his victims.
But the 56-year-old father of four, who denied murdering 15 women
at his trial which ended in January 2000 with conviction and a sentence
of life in prison, has never given any reasons.
From the start
of the trial it was suspected that he was responsible for many more
deaths. Now an inquiry has said he murdered 215 of his patients
between 1975 and 1998, making him one of the world's most notorious
serial killers. (Full Story)
Almost from the beginning of his 24-year career as a general practitioner
in Hyde on the outskirts of Manchester, England, Shipman is believed
to have started administering deadly doses.
He would inject
his patients, mainly women aged between 75 and 84, with diomorphine
-- the medical term for heroin -- during his afternoon rounds.
Shipman was well versed in the administration of drugs having been
an addict during the 1970s, leading to his conviction in 1976 for
forging prescriptions for his own use.
More than half
of the 521 death certificates he wrote were likely to have been
premature, according to a British government audit report.
And he often kept husbands and siblings away from the patients'
bedsides in their dying moments when he was around. (Families' Devastation)
Softly spoken,
greying, bearded and bespectacled, Shipman would comfort dying victims.
Later, he would enter "heart problems," "stroke"
or "old age" on the death certificate.
He betrayed
their trust in a way and to an extent that I believe is unparalleled
in history
— Dame Janet Smith
He forged the
will of his last victim, 81-year-old Kathleen Grundy, so he could
inherit £386,000 ($610,000), but it was this final crime that
tripped Shipman.
The alarm was raised after Grundy's daughter, a lawyer, became suspicious
about her mother's will bestowing her entire estate to Shipman.
(Systems 'Failures')
He never admitted
his guilt and refused to reveal his thinking. A local priest has
called on Shipman to end his denials and tell the truth about his
mass slaying spree.
Shipman began his killing in 1975, a year after he began practicing
as a GP in Yorkshire. But the bulk of his victims died after he
had moved to Hyde. ('Admit Slaughter')
Father Denis
Maher said: "Dr Shipman, please, please, please own up to what
you have done -- not only for Hyde but for yourself too."
When passing sentence on Shipman at his trial in January 2000, Judge
Thayne Forbes, said: "None of your victims realised yours was
no healing touch."
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http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/07/04/uk.shipman/index.html?related
Life means life for UK 'Dr Death'
July 4, 2002 Posted: 2:41 PM EDT (1841 GMT)
Serial killer Shipman received 15 life sentences
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LONDON (CNN) -- British Home Secretary David Blunkett has ruled
that serial killer Harold Shipman must spend the rest of his life
behind bars.
Family doctor
Shipman was dubbed "Dr. Death" after being convicted of
murdering 15 elderly female patients with lethal injections of diamorphine
and one count of forging a will.
Prosecutors
say he may have killed hundreds more during his 24 years as a general
practitioner in Hyde, Greater Manchester, northwestern England.
Shipman, 55, received 15 life sentences in 2000 and the trial judge
said in his case a life sentence should mean life.
"I do not
usually comment on the tariff decided in individual life sentence
prisoner cases," said Blunkett. "However, I recognise
that Harold Shipman's crimes raise issues of particular public concern,
and I therefore intend to depart from my usual practice in this
case.
"Harold
Shipman was convicted in January 2000 on 15 counts of murder. I
extend my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the
victims.
"These
were the most heinous of offences and the gross breach of the duty
of trust he owed as a doctor to the victims, all of whom were trusting
patients. Taking all the circumstances into account I have decided
that nothing less than a whole life tariff should apply in this
case."
Blunkett has
acknowledged that a recent ruling by the European Court of Human
Rights could encourage 'whole life' murderers in their legal attempts
to strip home secretaries of the power to decide how long serious
criminals remain in jail.
Judges at the Strasbourg court ruled that former Home Secretary
Jack Straw breached the human rights of murderer Dennis Stafford
from County Durham by keeping him in jail longer than recommended
by the Parole Board.
The judges said
the power of a government minister to overrule the Parole Board
was used illegally.
Blunkett vowed
after the Strasbourg ruling to fight any attempts by murderers sentenced
to 'whole life' prison tariffs to win their freedom by exploiting
the judgment.
Moors murderer Myra Hindley is another high-profile British killer
seeking freedom despite having a 'whole life' sentence.
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http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/06/21/uk.doctor/index.html?related
Shipman deaths within minutesJune 21, 2001 Posted: 7:32 AM EDT (1132
GMT)
Shipman practised despite a drugs conviction
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MANCHESTER, England (CNN) -- Victims of serial killer Dr Harold
Shipman would have been dead within minutes, the public inquiry
into his crimes heard on Thursday.
The inquiry
at Manchester town hall, north-west England, is investigating the
final moments of 466 former patients of the man dubbed "Doctor
Death."
On the second day of the hearings Dr Henry McQuay, professor of
pain relief at Oxford
University,
said patients injected with 30mg or more of diamorphine would be
dead within 10 minutes or less.
He said the
drug would take effect within minutes, causing the person to stop
breathing.
"If you
do not breathe for three minutes then your brain will be starved
of oxygen and you will die."
In a report
prepared for the inquiry, which is expected to last two years and
is chaired by High Court judge Dame Janet Smith, McQuay wrote: "Lips
would then go blue and then fingers would go blue.
"Skin colour
would become pallid, death would follow."
McQuay told
lead counsel to the inquiry, Caroline Swift QC, that the effects
of diamorphine would be worse on elderly people.
Shipman, 55,
of Hyde, Greater Manchester, was convicted in January 2000 of murdering
15 elderly female patients with lethal injections of diamorphine
ands one count of forging a will. He received 15 life sentences.
Prosecutors
say he may have killed hundreds more during his 24 years as a general
practitioner in Hyde near the northern city of Manchester.
The inquiry,
which is expected to last two years, began with an overview of Shipman's
career from 1974 to the time of his arrest in 1998.
On its first
day, Swift told the inquiry Shipman was forced to resign from practice
in 1975 -- just 18 months into his first job as a doctor -- after
being convicted of forging prescriptions for a painkiller.
Shipman admitted
his addiction and received treatment. He was fined $660.
In 1977, he accepted another medical job and was considered an esteemed
member of the staff. He left in 1992 to set up a one-man practice.
In March 1998
another doctor expressed concern about the number of cremation certificates
Shipman asked him to co-sign, but police concluded there was not
enough evidence to pursue charges.
The investigation
that led to his conviction was reopened months later after the daughter
of an 81-year-old widow discovered her mother had apparently changed
her will to leave everything to Shipman.
Inquests have
added another 25 to Shipman's list of unlawful killings, and a report
has linked him directly to 236 more suspicious deaths.
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