A GP from Hyde, England, has been found guilty of murdering 15 patients. Dr. Harold Shipman, 54, injected his victims, all middle-aged or elderly women, with diamorphine. Police intend to charge him with 23 more murders, and estimate that the final number may reach 146; almost all of the victims were women. The motive is believed to have been the exercise of power, but he also took cash and jewelry.
Many are asking how and why he got away with it for so long. In 1976, as a young GP, Shipman had 8 criminal convictions for drug-related offences. He underwent treatment and reemerged as a GP 18 months later.
Shipman has been running a single-handed practice in Hyde, which is near Manchester, since 1991. His crimes were uncovered when he forged the will of a wealthy patient. The patient's daughter, a solicitor, recognized the signature on the crudely typed will as a forgery and alerted police. Had she not done so, Shipman would probably still be at large. He tried to cover his tracks by making retrospective entries in patients' notes so that healthy people appeared to have serious medical problems. However, his computer left an audit trail of entries that had been typed in at a later date.
Previous warnings about Shipman's death rates had been ignored or not taken seriously. The local undertaker had noted that many of his patients were, unusually, wearing day clothes when they died. She discussed this with Shipman, who dismissed her concerns, but she informed the local coroner.
Further warnings came from a nearby group practice. Shipman used to contact the 5 doctors when he needed a cremation certificate countersigned, because by law these need the signature of 2 physicians. In 1 year they countersigned 41 certificates, while in their own practice they had only 5 deaths at home, since most take place in hospital. They contacted the coroner, who notified police. The police failed to contact the General Medical Council, but had they done so they would not have been told about the drug offences unless they had specifically asked. Nor did the police check whether he had a criminal record.
The police also contacted the local Health Authority, which checked the medical notes of several patients but failed to spot that they had been falsified. The doctor who made the checks has now been suspended.
No less than 5 victims died in Shipman's surgery, having arrived there under their own steam. The rest died at home, many after unsolicited home visits. He got his diamorphine by over-prescribing to terminally ill patients and then offering to take away the surplus when they died. The health secretary, Alan Milburn, has promised an official investigation.
Shipman, 54, denied the charges throughout, but the evidence against him was overwhelming. He was arrogant to the police and impassive in court, and has shown no remorse. He can expect to spend the rest of his life in prison.