Shipman's widow asks for 'stolen' jewellery

Jewellery worth £10,000, which may belong to the murder victims of Harold Shipman, is likely to be given to the killer's wife, police said yesterday.

Primrose Shipman has asked for 70 items, including wedding rings, necklaces, brooches, bracelets and earrings, which were seized from the garage at the Shipman family home near Hyde, Greater Manchester, in July 1998, when the GP was first arrested, to be returned to her.

Greater Manchester Police believe some of the items may have been stolen by Shipman from some of the 250 patients he killed. But unless the families of victims can prove ownership, police must return the items to the killer's wife. Kathleen Wood, 63, whose mother, Bessie Baddeley, 83, died in 1997, said earrings, a necklace and a brooch belonging to her mother went missing when Shipman visited her. Now she is resigned to losing them. "The families will be in uproar," she said. "They will absolutely be in uproar, without a doubt. I cannot see why she should lay claim to the jewellery."

Police have written to 180 families, asking them to identify the items. They must provide proof of ownership through receipts, photographs or descriptions. Shipman hanged himself in prison in January 2004.