Police admit flawed Shipman inquiry

Harold Shipman is serving 15 life sentences

Greater Manchester Police have admitted their first investigation into the actions of the convicted serial killer Harold Shipman was flawed.

The second phase of the Shipman inquiry has heard how police dropped the case after four weeks because of a lack of evidence.

At least three more patients died before the doctor was finally arrested.

Click here to watch the inquiry opening

The police have offered their "regrets" to the families of the GP's victims.

The investigation was launched in March 1998 in response to concerns raised by local doctors over the high death rates among his patients.

The inquiry found no evidence on which to arrest Shipman and it was ended.

Finally, the solicitor daughter of one of his victims, Kathleen Grundy, raised the alarm.

Shipman killed using diamorphine injections

Shipman was eventually arrested in August 1998.

As a family doctor in Hyde, Greater Manchester, he murdered 15 of his women patients and is now serving a life sentence in prison.

Caroline Swift QC, leading counsel to the inquiry, told the hearing the police investigation was hampered by a catalogue of errors.

Michael Shorrock QC, counsel for Greater Manchester police, said confusion over whether the case was "owned" by the coroner or the police and what it hoped to achieve had hampered the investigation.

He said following a recent review of the inquiry, Greater Manchester police had come to the conclusion that it was "flawed".

"The collection of available information was incomplete, not fully recorded and the interpretation was flawed," he told the public inquiry.

TV access

He also suggested there had been "a failure to recognise that various pieces of information tended towards supporting the suspicion".

He said for these reasons, the investigation was "terminated prematurely" even though it was by no means certain that, had it continued, it could have saved lives.

Mr Shorrock said: "It is important that the families and friends are not forgotten and we offer our deepest regrets for what has happened."

The inquiry into the convicted serial killer has entered its second phase, with its chairwoman Dame Janet Smith allowing broadcasters access to proceedings for the first time since it began.

Evidence

It is investigating why this preliminary police inquiry found insufficient evidence to proceed against the GP.

The decision to allow broadcasters access to proceedings at Manchester Town Hall comes after American broadcaster CNN argued it was in the public interest.

The inquiry began in June 2001 and may last up to two years.

Its first phase looked into the deaths of around 500 of Shipman's former patients.

Shipman is currently serving life at Frankland Jail, Co Durham, after being convicted of 15 murders in January 2000.