Harold Shipman
Harold Frederick Shipman was a British doctor whose life took a tragic turn from respected physician to one of the most notorious serial killers in history. Born into a working-class family, Shipman's early experiences, particularly the painful death of his mother from cancer, inspired him to pursue a medical career. After graduating from the University of Leeds, he began his practice in the 1970s but soon developed a dark reputation. Shipman is believed to have murdered approximately 250 patients, primarily elderly women, using lethal doses of painkillers. His actions went largely undetected until suspicions were raised regarding a high number of cremation forms he submitted.
His criminal activities culminated in the murder of Kathleen Grundy in 1998, which led to his arrest and subsequent trial in 1999. Shipman was convicted of killing fifteen women and sentenced to life imprisonment. He maintained his innocence until his death by suicide in prison in 2004. The aftermath of his crimes prompted significant changes in British medical regulations and heightened discussions about trust in the medical profession, ultimately leading to the establishment of preventive measures aimed at safeguarding patients.
Subject Terms
Harold Shipman
British physician and serial killer
- Born: June 14, 1946
- Birthplace: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
- Died: January 13, 2004
- Place of death: Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England
Major offense: Murder of fifteen patients
Active: Early 1970’s-1998
Locale: Greater Manchester, England
Sentence: Life imprisonment; committed suicide while in prison
Early Life
Harold Frederick Shipman (SHIHP-muhn) was born into a working-class family. He had a very close relationship with his mother, Vera. When he was seventeen, his mother died of lung cancer. In her last days, she suffered a great deal of pain, and her only solace came from the painkillers administered by her family physician. His mother’s experience lingered in Shipman’s memory for a long time and gave him a strong desire to become a physician. He joined the medical school at University of Leeds. While in medical school, he met a young woman, Primrose. A year later, when Primrose was seventeen and five months pregnant, they married. In 1966, they had a daughter, whom they named Sarah, and later they had three more children.
Criminal Career
In 1970, Shipman graduated from medical school and began his practice in Pontefract, a small town southeast of Leeds. Although he was considered a respected physician, he was also seen as rude and wanting a great deal of control. It is believed that it was at Pontefract that he began to kill some of his patients.
After four years, Shipman joined a practice in Todmorden, a town in West Yorkshire. After about a year of work there, he was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine (a morphinelike analgesic) for his own use. He had to undergo drug rehabilitation treatment and was fined, but he was allowed to resume practice in 1977 at Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde. He later started his own practice in 1993.
Once Shipman’s criminal acts began in the early 1970’s, he continued to kill patients with pethidine and morphine. It has been estimated that he was responsible for close to 250 deaths of his patients. Physicians in Shipman’s area began to suspect something was wrong at his practice; one doctor, Linda Reynolds, approached the local coroner in early 1998 with concern about the high number of cremation forms for elderly women for which Shipman sought countersigning. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued, but not enough evidence of criminal acts could be found.
Shipman’s last murder was of eighty-two-year-old Kathleen Grundy, which occurred on June 24, 1998. A forged will that left Shipman œ386,000 led to suspicion about his role in her death. Upon exhumation of Grundy’s body and postmortem tests, it was found that Grundy’s death was a case of overdose of diamorphine, a legal grade of medical heroin.
Legal Action and Outcome
Shipman’s trial began on October 5, 1999, and was presided over by Justice Thayne John Forbes. Shipman was prosecuted and was found guilty after a six-day deliberation by a jury for murdering fifteen women during the period between 1995 and 1998. On January 31, 2000, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he never be released. He maintained his innocence in all the crimes. On January 13, 2004, Shipman committed suicide in prison by hanging himself in the cell with bedsheets.
Impact
Dame Janet Smith, a judge, was appointed to prepare a dossier of Shipman’s activities and develop recommendations. She prepared a six-volume document called The Shipman Inquiry, which made recommendations to the General Medical Council, the regulator of the medical profession in the United Kingdom. As a result of the crimes of Harold Shipman and the findings of the inquiry, debates ensued in Britain over several issues: trust between doctors, since several of Shipman’s colleagues trusted him; loopholes within medical procedures that physicians can exploit, including the process of cremation certification; and patients’ confidence and trust in their doctors. The Shipman case led to the creation of several preventive measures within the United Kingdom so that such criminal activities would be less likely to recur.
Bibliography
Baker, Richard. “Implications of Harold Shipman for General Practice.” Postgraduate Medical Journal 80 (June, 2004): 303-306. This article discusses the implications of the case of Shipman for the medical profession. Issues of accountability, prevention measures, and doctor-patient relationships are discussed.
Pounder, Derrick. “The Case of Dr. Shipman.” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 24 (September, 2003): 219-226. The article discusses the case of Shipman and also presents forensic issues of detection and quantification of morphine in exhumed bodies.
Smith, Dame Janet. The Shipman Inquiry. 6 vols. London: The Stationery Office, 2002-2005. A complete account of the inquiry into the case of Harold Shipman in six volumes.