Editing Harold Shipman (section)

==Trial and imprisonment==
Shipman's trial began at [[Sessions House, Preston|Preston Crown Court]] on 5 October 1999. He was charged with the murders of 15 women by lethal injections of [[diamorphine]], all between 1995 and 1998:<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jan/31/shipman.health5 |title=Shipman found guilty of murdering 15 patients |work= [[The Guardian]] |date=31 January 2000 |access-date=27 May 2024}}</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=12em|
* Marie West, 81
* Irene Turner, 67
* Lizzie Adams, 77
* Jean Lilley, 59
* Ivy Lomas, 63
* Muriel Grimshaw, 76
* Marie Quinn, 67
* Kathleen Wagstaff, 81
* Bianka Pomfret, 49
* Norah Nuttall, 65
* Pamela Hillier, 68
* Maureen Ward, 57
* Winifred Mellor, 73
* Joan Melia, 73 
* Kathleen Grundy, 81
}}   

Shipman's legal representatives tried unsuccessfully to have the Grundy case tried separately from the others, as a motive was shown by the alleged forgery of Grundy's will.
 
On 31 January 2000, after six days of deliberation, the jury found Shipman guilty<ref>{{cite web | url=https://soundcloud.com/ukradiojones/shipmanverdict | title=Shipmanverdict }}</ref> of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice [[Thayne Forbes|Forbes]] subsequently sentenced Shipman to [[life imprisonment]] on all 15 counts of murder, with a recommendation that he be subject to a [[whole life tariff]], to be served concurrently with a sentence of four years for forging Grundy's will.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3391897.stm |title=Harold Shipman: The killer doctor|work= BBC News|date= 13 January 2004|access-date=30 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/616692.stm|work=BBC News|title=Shipman jailed for 15 murders|date=31 January 2000|access-date=16 September 2016}}</ref> On 11 February, 11 days after his conviction, Shipman was struck off the medical register by the [[General Medical Council]] (GMC).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/gmc-strikes-shipman-off-medical-register-725618.html|work=The Independent|title=GMC strikes Shipman off medical register|date=11 February 2000|access-date=20 September 2010|location=London|first1=Maxine|last1=Frith}}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/638291.stm|work=BBC News|title=Shipman struck off|date=11 February 2000|access-date=20 September 2010}}</ref> Two years later, Home Secretary [[David Blunkett]] confirmed the judge's whole life tariff, just months before British government ministers [[Anthony Anderson (murderer)|lost their power]] to set minimum terms for prisoners. While authorities could have brought many additional charges, they concluded that a fair hearing would be impossible given the enormous publicity surrounding the original trial. Furthermore, the 15 life sentences already imposed rendered further litigation unnecessary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.uk/6r_page.asp?ID=3401|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413134928/http://www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.uk/6r_page.asp?ID=3401|url-status=dead|title=''The Shipman Inquiry''&nbsp;— Sixth Report&nbsp;— Conclusions<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=13 April 2010|access-date=10 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4212627.stm|title=Shipman's 'reckless' experiments|date=27 January 2005|work=BBC News|accessdate=30 July 2005}}</ref> Shipman became friends with fellow serial killer [[Peter Moore (serial killer)|Peter Moore]] while in prison.<ref>{{cite news|first=Tony|last=Gardner|title=Shipman's bizarre circle of jail pals|url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Shipman39s--bizarre-circle-of.1008219.jp|newspaper=[[Yorkshire Evening Post]]|accessdate=28 April 2021|archivedate=22 May 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522082254/http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/shipman_s_bizarre_circle_of_jail_pals_1_2045821|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Shipman denied his guilt, disputing the scientific evidence against him. He never made any public statements about his actions. Shipman's wife, Primrose, maintained that he was not guilty, even after his conviction.<ref name="Sweet2004">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/16/gender.uk|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=He could do no wrong|date=16 January 2004|access-date=4 May 2010|first=Corinne|last=Sweet}}</ref>

Shipman is the only doctor in the history of British medicine found guilty of murdering his patients.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150902093955/http://www.strangerinblood.co.uk/html/case.htm Strangerinblood.co.uk]}} [[Nigel Cox (doctor)|Nigel Cox]] was convicted of [[attempted murder]] in 1992, in the death of Lillian Boyes.</ref> [[John Bodkin Adams]] was charged in 1957 with murdering a patient, amid rumours he had killed dozens more over a 10-year period and "possibly provided the role model for Shipman"; he was [[acquit]]ted and no further charges were pursued.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kinnell |first=H.&nbsp;G. |title=Serial homicide by doctors: Shipman in perspective |journal=BMJ |volume=321 |issue=7276 |pages=1594–7 |year=2000 |pmid=11124192 |pmc=1119267 |doi= 10.1136/bmj.321.7276.1594}}</ref> An historian, Pamela Cullen, has argued that because of Adams' acquittal, there was no impetus to examine potential flaws in the British legal system until the Shipman case.<ref>{{cite web|first=James|last=Stovold|url=http://www.strangerinblood.co.uk/html/case.htm|title=Strangerinblood.co.uk|publisher=Strangerinblood.co.uk|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-date=2 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902093955/http://www.strangerinblood.co.uk/html/case.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref>