Shipman: relatives fear Euro challenge

Relatives of the victims of Harold Shipman – the former GP who became the worst serial killer in British history – yesterday said they feared the European Court of Human Rights could give him hope that he will not die in jail.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, has said that Shipman must spend the rest of his natural life in prison.

But Joe Kitchen, 44, a Labour councillor on Tameside Council, whose 70-year-old mother was murdered, fears Shipman will be quick to use the European courts to try to overturn the Home Secretary's decision.

Mr Kitchen, who lives in Hyde and who had Shipman as his own GP, said: "There is always a fear that the decision will be challenged by Shipman and that a decision in Europe may force his release. That is something we are aware of, and an issue we know we may well have to face in the future. It is very important for the families that he does remain in jail."

In Hyde, the Greater Manchester town where Shipman carried out his murders, the community has said it will "pull together" and move on.

Jane Ashton-Hibbert, spokeswoman for the Tameside Family Support group, and whose grandmother Hilda Hibbert was one of Shipman's victims, said: "Everyone in Hyde knows someone who was killed by Shipman, and his betrayal of trust has affected us all. But we feel the focus shouldn't stay on Shipman for ever. This community is very strong. We will move on."

Shipman will this week receive a copy of the report that confirms he is responsible for at least 215 deaths – shattering his long-held delusion of innocence.

Inmates at Frankland Prison in Co Durham say Shipman, who is being held in the hospital wing, tells anyone who will listen that he expects the results of the independent public inquiry to clear him.

The report by Dame Janet Smith, published on Friday, not only condemned him as "addicted to killing" but increased the count of people thought to have died at his hands. According to the Prison Officers' Association, Shipman is entitled to a copy of the report, and it will be handed to him this week.

Andy Darken, chairman of the association, said yesterday: "He has not been given the report yet. He does have access to television so I imagine he has seen the news. But he is entitled to the report and he will probably get it this week."

Another member of the association added: "I imagine he will be pretty gutted when he sees it."

Shipman refused to co-operate with the inquiry and still protests his innocence.

Doctors and politicians have warned the lessons of the Shipman case must be learnt but that patients should not lose faith in their GPs.

The Liberal Democrat health spokesman Dr Evan Harris said: "This report makes it tragically clear that there were at least 215 missed opportunities to identify and stop a murderer.

"It is sadly not surprising that it is a medical practitioner who was able to get away for so long with these crimes. Doctors must be removed from their pedestal, and their actions must be questioned and audited more often."