ABSTRACT
Harold Frederick Shipman was born on 14 January 1946 in Nottingham. In 1965, Shipman was accepted to study medicine at the University of Leeds. It was during his time at medical school that he, by his own admission, began abusing drugs, as well as meeting the woman that was to remain steadfastly by his side for the rest of his life, Primrose. After graduating in 1970, Shipman’s first employment as a doctor was at Pontefract Royal Infirmary. The case of Shipman had far-reaching implications for general practice and the wider medical landscape. A large-scale investigation followed, looking into a number of deaths of elderly patients that had occurred shortly after Shipman had conducted a home visit. In January 2000, Shipman was convicted on 15 counts of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Shipman showed no emotion when the verdict was announced. He made no further comment on the crimes and offered no explanation for them.
