Unlawful Killing: Inquest into the death of Valerie Cuthbert
10/01/2001
Thank you to everyone involved in my case. I never dreamed of such an outcome and you have made such a long and difficult case seem easy and bearable.
Nigel, DerbyshireMr and Mrs Taylor provided the following statement through their Solicitor Nicola McIntosh :-
'We are relieved at the coroner's conclusions, all be it in extremely distressing circumstances. It was the verdict we were hoping for and we are pleased to have had the chance to have our evidence heard.
It is a weight off our minds after living with the doubt since Shipman's arrest.
We wish Valerie was still with us and enjoying her retirement alongside us.'
If you have any further questions please contact Emma Smith on 0161 925 5555.
Another Shipman patient unlawfully killed -The Times 10th January 2001
A coroner today recorded a verdict of unlawful killing over the death of another patient of former GP Harold Shipman.
It was the fifth time that John Pollard, the South Manchester Coroner, had delivered the ruling since Shipman was convicted last year of murdering 15 of his women patients.
An inquest at Tameside Magistrates Court heard that Shipman said he had found Valerie Cuthbert, 54, dead at her home in Hyde, Greater Manchester, when he returned following a home visit earlier the same day in May 1996.
Mr Pollard said: "As with yesterday's case, I am driven to the conclusion that Valerie Cuthbert was unlawfully killed and that's the verdict I am going to record today."
He said that although Mrs Cuthbert had suffered some health problems it was "not more likely than not that she died from natural causes".
Please find other inquest news below.
Shipman patient killed says coroner - The Guardian 10th January 2001
Families of hundreds of possible victims of the serial murderer Harold Shipman could now seek inquests after a coroner recorded yesterday that one of his patients who had been cremated had been unlawfully killed.
Dr Shipman, whose surgery was in Hyde, Greater Manchester, was convicted of murdering 15 patients a year ago.
Since then the south Manchester coroner, John Pollard, has recorded that three other patients whose bodies were buried had been unlawfully killed.
But yesterday's inquest on 81-year-old Hilda Hibbert was the first of a series of 24 on possible victims who were all cremated. The verdict is bound to give comfort to other families who know Shipman will never return to court to face more murder charges.
Many had feared that, without post-mortem evidence, the coroner would have been obliged to record an open verdict.
Yesterday's hearing followed a Department of Health report which suggested that Shipman, now serving life in Frankland prison, Durham, could have killed up to 300 people.
Relatives who packed the hearing at Ashton-under-Lyne gasped with relief as Mr Pollard announced his conclusion on Mrs Hibbert, who was found dead at home in Hyde on January 2 1996.
She was found sitting upright in her favourite armchair shortly after a visit from Shipman.
"I have to say, yes, there is some doubt as to whether Mrs Hibbert was unlawfully killed," said Mr Pollard. "But I could no way describe that doubt as reasonable doubt, bearing in mind all the circumstances. It beggars belief to reach any conclusion in this case other than to say she was unlawfully killed."
Mr Pollard was not permitted by law to name anyone who might have been responsible for Mrs Hibbert's death but her family said they were pleased with the verdict. "We were hoping for this outcome but didn't expect it," said her daughter-in-law Janice Hibbert.
Jane Ashton-Hibbert, Mrs Hibbert's granddaughter and leader of a support group for the families of suspected victims, said: "I know all the other inquests have to be dealt with on an individual basis but I would like to think this verdict has given the other families some hope."
During the hearing, Mr Pollard was told that Shipman had recorded that Mrs Hibbert had suffered a stroke two days before her death.
But Ms Ashton-Hibbert said she had not noticed any signs of a stroke as the family celebrated Christmas. She described her grandmother as "a lovely woman ... very active, sprightly and self-sufficient". At lunchtime on the day she died, she played hide and seek with her great-granddaughter.
Ms Ashton-Hibbert said she had left Mrs Hibbert's home at 2.30pm but returned an hour later to learn that her grandmother had been found in her chair as if asleep.
As ambulance men attempted resuscitation, Shipman burst in and told the crew to stop. "She's dead," he said. "There will be no need for a post-mortem as I was the last person to see her before her death. I will issue a death certificate."
Ms Ashton-Hibbert said she had known Shipman for 20 years. When police inquiries into his activities began in 1998, she and her husband, Martin, had tried to lend him their support: she had tried to send a card and Martin had attempted to transfer from his own doctor to Shipman.
Shipman patient was killed unlawfully, rules coroner - The Independent 10th January 2001
A coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing yesterday in the first of a series of inquests into suspicious deaths of patients treated by the serial killer Harold Shipman.
John Pollard, the coroner for South Manchester, said that any other explanation for the death of Hilda Hibbert, aged 81, "beggared belief".
Mrs Hibbert was found dead at her home in Hyde, Greater Manchester, soon after a visit from Shipman, her GP, in 1996. The doctor told Mrs Hibbert's family that she had died from a stroke. Hours earlier she had been playing hide-and-seek with her great-granddaughter, the hearing was told.
The inquest was the first of a series of 24 to be held on suspected victims of the GP who were cremated.
After the verdict in Ashton-under-Lyne, three miles from Hyde where Shipman, 54, murdered patients with diamorphine, Mrs Hibbert's family said they wanted the GP to confess to his killings. Her eldest daughter, Jane McAdoo, said: "We hope some time the ultimate coward will find the courage to tell the truth about what happened and give all the other families the kind of ending we have here today."
Verdicts of unlawful killing were recorded at inquests last year on three female patients whose bodies were exhumed during a police investigation. In all the cases police felt they had enough evidence to bring murder charges against Shipman, but they were not proceeded with because of the large number of charges on which he was already facing trial.
Shipman was convicted of 15 murders and is serving life in Frankland prison, Durham. A clinical audit commissioned by the Department of Health and published last week said that he could have been responsible for more than 236 deaths apart from those for which he was convicted.
Detective Constable Lee Thompson said the circumstances of Mrs Hibbert's death were "extremely suspicious". He produced a report that said the similarities with other deaths "led us to believe Mrs Hibbert was murdered".
Her granddaughter Jane Ashton-Hibbert, who runs a support group for relatives of Shipman victims, told the inquest she and her husband had trusted Shipman. They had even visited his surgery after police interviewed him on suspicion of killing his last victim, Kathleen Grundy, to offer support.
Mr Hibbert had half-jokingly asked the doctor if he had committed the crimes. Mrs Ashton-Hibbert said yesterday: "He said 'No, of course I didn't'."
Inquests on other suspected victims will continue today.
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