'Shipman killed my four relatives'

Carol Chapman worked at Shipman's surgery from 1992

A receptionist who worked for killer GP Harold Shipman has revealed he killed four of her relatives, including her mother, without her suspecting anything.

On Thursday Carol Chapman told the public inquiry in to his killings she had no reason to suspect he was responsible for the deaths, which also included her mother-in-law and two aunts.

She also said he jokingly told her some of the deaths were her fault because she wore a particular pair of earrings on the days patients died.

Ms Chapman, who worked for Shipman at his Greater Manchester surgery for six years, said even on days when up to three patients died her suspicions were not raised.

"I can say that three deaths in a row, or two in one day, would not have entered my head or struck me as being odd," said Ms Chapman, who started working at the surgery in Market Street, Hyde, in 1992.

On one occasion there had been one or two deaths and Shipman said the deaths were my fault Carol Chapman, Shipman's ex-receptionist

"I was aware that lots of Shipman's patients were elderly and were unwell. I did not have concerns."

She said Shipman would be "stroppy" when talking about patients' deaths.

"I think that was because he thought we were questioning him, even though we weren't," Ms Chapman said.

"He gave the impression that he was irritated by our interest."

Ms Chapman said the issue of her earrings became a "running joke" in the surgery.

"On one occasion there had been one or two deaths and Shipman said that the deaths were my fault," she said.

'Eyebrows raised'

"When I challenged him, he said it was because of my earrings. This became a running joke in the surgery."

However, she said that as time went on the issue started to get to her.

"When Elizabeth Battersby died, [for example], I did not wear any earrings for a week."

Ms Chapman said that by 1998 however, she remembered being shocked by some of the deaths, but her suspicions were still not raised.

"Eyebrows would be raised when somebody died but nobody said anything," she said.

215 deaths

"Although I think I began to notice the deaths, it never entered my head that Shipman might be killing his patients."

Shipman, 57, was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court in January 2000 for the murders of 15 patients.

Last year the inquiry decided he had claimed the lives of at least 215 of his patients in Hyde and Todmorden, West Yorkshire, over a 23-year period.

Ms Chapman gave evidence during stage four of the public inquiry, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, called Monitoring.