Mark Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 Shipman told to 'go hang himself'Harold Shipman was told to "go and hang himself" by a prison officer, who offered to show him how to do it, an inquest jury has been told. Inmate David Smith said Shipman was his best friend in Wakefield Prison, where the serial killer GP was found hanging in his cell last year. Smith claimed he overheard Shipman and another inmate talking, which was when Shipman made the claim. He also told the jury Shipman said he was being bullied by prison staff. The prisoner told the inquest that Shipman had said: "They're bullying me because I wouldn't talk to officers." 'Pound of flesh' Smith said he regularly played cards with Shipman and other inmates and the doctor never seemed suicidal. He also said Shipman, who was a GP in Hyde, Greater Manchester, where he carried out the bulk of his murders, would hold "impromptu surgeries" in the prison, helping other inmates with advice on their medical conditions. Fellow inmate Richard Baker said Shipman was singled out by prison officers and that staff were trying to get their "pound of flesh". Baker told the jury Shipman refused to cooperate with psychologists and other medical professionals because he felt superior to them. He agreed that Shipman believed the staff and the inmates in the prison were also "beneath him". Another prisoner, Geoffrey Shepherd, told the inquest that Shipman once talked him out of committing suicide. When asked if Shipman had told him that "life was sacred and should not be taken in that way", he said: "That's what he used to tell me. We used to have long arguments." He said Shipman even told him that he would have to report him to prison staff if he continued to talk about taking his own life. Shepherd said Shipman told him he himself would never commit suicide. He told the inquest that the night before Shipman died, the ex-doctor came into his cell after phoning his wife and told him about a development in his case. 'Pressure' Shepherd said Shipman had told him he might take "another course of action" if his appeal failed. Shepherd said Shipman told him that a prison officer had said: "The best thing you can do for all concerned is to kill yourself. If you don't know how to, I'll show you." He explained that Shipman often complained that he was being "bullied". Shepherd was then asked if he thought the prison officers' taunts were pushing him towards killing himself. "Yes, because the way the pressure was put on him probably did lead to his suicide," he said. Life sentence He said he was surprised that Shipman was found hanging because whenever they had discussed suicide he had always told him that "opening the arteries" would be the best way of doing it. Jacqueline North, a prison officer on Shipman's wing, described the serial killer as an arrogant man who only wanted to conform to prison life "on his own terms". Under cross-examination, she revealed she was unaware that Shipman was considered to be a long-term suicide risk. On Monday, Shipman's widow Primrose told the inquest she had no idea her husband intended to commit suicide. Shipman was given a life sentence in 2000 after he was convicted of the murder of 15 of his patients. An inquiry concluded that he probably killed about 260 patients while working as a doctor in Pontefract and Todmorden, West Yorkshire, and in Hyde between 1971 and 1998. The hearing continues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 I'm sure Shipman knew how to hang himself anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 When asked if Shipman had told him that "life was sacred and should not be taken in that way", he said: "That's what he used to tell me. We used to have long arguments." 92272[/snapback] what the hell? he's one of the last people that have the right to talk about how sacred a life is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burger Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 Would you really want medical advice from him?? he is a serial killer after all...silly prisoners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Burglar Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 Shoot the twat!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burger Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 Shoot the twat!! 92335[/snapback] ...yeah mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 It matters not now as the gutless twat is dead now anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 He's a serial killer, Britains worst at that. What did he expect in prison, loads of tea and sympathhy? Cosy little chats about the best way to bump off your victims? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MON Posted 13 April 2005 Share Posted 13 April 2005 He should have been hanged, prison is not enough for what he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stez Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 He should have been hanged, prison is not enough for what he did. 92513[/snapback] the death penalty is never right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryh Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 I agree the death penalty is very wrong - but it was his choice to kill himself, and he is no longer a burden on society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomassi Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 If u were a relative of a victim or similar and u wanted punishment for the prosecuted, what would u rather have them punished as..?? Life in Prison?? or the Death Penalty?? Personally i'd rather they get a life sentence.. but theres many pros and cons about this.. the pros being they obviously dont have their freedom and they get bum-raped every shower time and eat shit, the cons being they could be set-free with good behaviour, they might enjoy prison life etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 I agree the death penalty is very wrong - but it was his choice to kill himself, and he is no longer a burden on society. 92535[/snapback] But he didn't deserve the right to escape his punishment, the coward that he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shen Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 I agree the death penalty is very wrong - but it was his choice to kill himself, and he is no longer a burden on society. 92535[/snapback] But he didn't deserve the right to escape his punishment, the coward that he is. 92698[/snapback] Well why should you pay tax money for a convict that's hurt society? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 I agree the death penalty is very wrong - but it was his choice to kill himself, and he is no longer a burden on society. 92535[/snapback] But he didn't deserve the right to escape his punishment, the coward that he is. 92698[/snapback] Well why should you pay tax money for a convict that's hurt society? 92704[/snapback] exactly there was a huge debate on this on the OS a while back that began as me against everyone but lightened down to me against swabianfox i'll leave it to you lot this time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burger Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 I like it how nobody has answered the question 'right or wrong' I suspect it's because nobody wants to say it, but everyone is thinking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 professionally it was the wrong thing to do morally it will differ between EVERYONE, for me though the right thing not that it makes any difference to what he does/would have done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryh Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 You can only sentence a person to death if you are 100% certain they are guilty. How many people have been wrongly sentenced? I don't believe that ANY human being has the right to take anothers life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 a chair isn't a human being Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryh Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 a chair isn't a human being 92727[/snapback] It could be argued that the bloke who presses the button isn't human either!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 robot? the thing is if you were a mother/daughter of one of the victims, your view would change without a doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryh Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 robot?the thing is if you were a mother/daughter of one of the victims, your view would change without a doubt 92741[/snapback] Possibly - but I don't think I could ever live with myself if the person accused was done so wrongly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 but in this instance is there not hundreds of cases surrounding his involvment? that takes more than a bit of mis chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stez Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 robot?the thing is if you were a mother/daughter of one of the victims, your view would change without a doubt 92741[/snapback] sentencing is about justice, not revenge, therefore people invovled should have little or no input into the sentence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryh Posted 14 April 2005 Share Posted 14 April 2005 but in this instance is there not hundreds of cases surrounding his involvment?that takes more than a bit of mis chance 92745[/snapback] True - but then if the death sentence is made legal again how do you know that each person accused is 100% guilty? I don't condone what he did - he was a truly evil man, who probably had too comfortable a time in prison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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