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`Dr. Shipman murdered 215 persons'

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JULY 19. A British doctor, who is serving a life sentence for murdering hundreds of his elderly patients, was today dubbed as one of the world's "deadliest serial killers'' in an inquiry report which confirmed that Harold Shipman killed 215 people on the pretext of treating them.

The number could be more, the report said, pointing out that there was a "real suspicion'' that he might have been responsible for another 45 mysterious deaths. "No one reading this report can fail to be shocked by the enormity of the crimes committed by Shipman,'' Dame Janet said in her 2000-page report, the first comprehensive inquiry into one of Britain's most sensational serial killings.

The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, said that life sentence for Dr. Shipman, who was jailed two years ago, literally meant that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars and unlike other life imprisonment cases, his case would not be reviewed for remission.

The most puzzling aspect of the Shipman case is that neither the police, whose investigations led to his arrest and conviction, nor Dame Janet has been able to establish a motive for his actions. The septuagenarian doctor, not removed from the medical rolls, refused to appear before the Janet Committee. Even psychiatrists, with whom the police discussed the case, failed to fathom Dr. Shipman's motive except to suggest that it might have had something to do with the fact that, as a young boy, he watched his mother die in pain. Watching other old women dying slowly in front of his eyes might have given him perverse satisfaction.

He started killing his patients in 1975, soon after setting up practice in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. But he claimed most of his victims in Hyde, Greater Manchester, and even as there seemed to be a pattern in the way his patients — mostly old, vulnerable women — died, he never aroused any suspicion. Police said even those who suspected that something was going on hesitated to speak out.

His soft, friendly demeanour made him a respected, trustworthy figure.

Of his 215 victims, 171 were women, and the oldest among them was 93. In almost every case, the patient was found dead sitting on a chair or a sofa, soon after he paid them a visit.

The report said the system which should have safeguarded patients against misconduct failed to operate satisfactorily and it was "deeply disturbing'' that his killings did not arouse suspicion for so many years.

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