News Search Search this site or the web powered by FreeFind Site search Web search Story archive		January 14, 2004, Wednesday, Scotsman ANGER AND BEWILDERMENT AT SERIAL KILLER'S SUICIDE Gethin Chamberlain HAROLD Shipman hanged himself in his cell yesterday because he could not face the prospect of an appeal court appearance at which his guilt would be re -affirmed and his life sentence upheld, it was claimed last night. Shipman, Britain's most prolific serial killer, was found hanging in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 6: 20am. Prison officials said that the former GP, who would have been 58 today, had fashioned a noose out of his bedsheets, attached it to his window bars and then hidden behind a curtain before apparently taking his own life. Despite resuscitation attempts, he was pronounced dead by a doctor at 8: 10am. His lawyer, Giovanni di Stefano, said Shipman had been planning to launch an appeal against the life sentence imposed at Preston Crown Court in January 2000 for the murder of 15 patients, and Mr di Stefano appeared to cast doubt on the official version of events. "Dr Shipman had never, ever accepted his guilt, and he's never, ever admitted culpability in any of the murders that he's convicted of. Something is not really quite right there. No allegations from myself," he said. "A person who has a ground of appeal, a precedent in the Court of Appeal to allow themselves to appeal, commits suicide a day before his birthday?" The prison service said Shipman had shown no signs of depression and had even spoken to his wife, Primrose, on the telephone the night before his body was discovered. But last night, Professor Ian Stephen, one of Britain's leading forensic psychologists, said he believed Shipman realised the futility of his forthcoming appeal, and this had prompted him to take his own life. "He has played God again, this time to defy the justice system that put him away," he said. "He was a very controlling man, who saw himself as beyond criticism, and he will have considered it better to kill himself than to have to face another court telling him he is guilty." The Edinburgh-based psychologist said the combination of the appeal and his birthday would have left Shipman feeling especially vulnerable. "That is the point at which reality can hit home, when they realise that they are not going to win their appeal and they begin to contemplate the reality of life in jail, and depression kicks in. "Those sort of events seem to set people off thinking back about things and rethinking their lives. They remember where they were on previous birthdays or anniversaries. All those areas are potential hot spots, and for Shipman two of those were coming up, his birthday and his appeal." Shipman took with him to the grave the secrets of 215 murders, and his death was greeted with shock and disgust by relatives, who said he had "taken the easy way out". His death will end their hopes of ever knowing why Shipman killed their relatives over a 23-year period in Hyde, Greater Manchester, and Todmorden, West Yorkshire. Jayne Gaskill, from Hyde, whose 68-year-old mother, Bertha Moss, died at the doctor's hands, said: "He has won again. He has taken the easy way out. He has controlled us all the way through, and he has controlled the last step. I hate him for it." To the very end, Shipman had shown no remorse and made no confessions. Yesterday, at his former surgery, the word "Justice" had been scrawled 12 times across metal shutters. Shipman had previously been placed on suicide watch, but at the time of his death he was not receiving any special attention. The prison service said he had not shown any signs of wanting to take his own life, and the prisons minister, Paul Goggins, announced that a full investigation would be carried out by Prisons and Probation ombudsman, Stephen Shaw. Harry Fletcher, the assistant general secretary of the probation union NAPO, said: "It's worrying that one of the most high-profile prisoners in the country has committed suicide." But Mark Leech, the founder of the ex-offenders' charity Unlock and editor of the Prisons Handbook, said Shipman would have known how to hide the signs and symptoms that prison staff were trained to look for in potentially suicidal prisoners.
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