Anger of all the families

The anger today is as strong as ever. Four years after Shipman was convicted of murder, the families of his victims still feel a raw bitterness towards the man they once gave their unqualified trust.

Kathleen Wood, whose 83-year-old mother Bessie Baddeley died in 1997, said: "I am not sorry he has gone, but it brings it all back and it stirs it all up for us again.

"I just wish he had been forthcoming and admitted he had done those things - it would have put a lot of people's minds at rest. He won't be missed. I have got friends whose relatives were in the same position as my mother and they are not sorry either."

That anger, however, was tempered with the stark realisation that with Shipman's death the families have lost the last hope they had of getting the answers they so desperately need.

Ann Alexander, the solicitor who represents 200 relatives of the victims, said: "Many had hoped that one day Harold Shipman would have answered many of the questions that they have surrounding their relative's death, in particular why he committed these terrible crimes."

She added: "The families with whom we have spoken this morning are extremely distressed at this news. They will require a great deal of support over the coming days, weeks and months."

Jayne Gaskill, whose mother Bertha Moss, 68, was identified by the inquiry as one of Shipman's victims, burst into tears on hearing the news. "I don't know why, because I am not bothered he is dead. I am in sheer shock," she said. Mother of two Mrs Gaskill, 44, added: "He has won again. He has taken the easy way out. He has controlled us all the way through and he has controlled the last step and I hate him for it." Jane Ashton-Hibbert, who lost her grandmother Hilda Hibbert, 81, said she was surprised that a category A prisoner like Shipman was not monitored more carefully.

She said: "I am a bit shocked but I suppose really you could say I was angry he has chosen the easy way out instead of admitting his guilt and showing some compassion to his victims. I suppose it closes the door on the fact that he has never shown any compassion. But on the other hand, I won't be mourning his loss. He has never shown any remorse."

It is impossible to exaggerate the impact of Shipman's crimes on the community in which he served.

Most of his victims had children and grandchildren, and for every person he killed there was a string of grieving relatives. In a place like Hyde, an old northern cotton town with a population of 35,000, that meant there was scarcely a soul who did not know several of the victims personally.

John Pollard, the coroner who was in charge of inquests for the victims of Shipman, said: "I can imagine there are many mixed reactions regarding Mr Shipman's death - that of sadness for his family and that of 'good riddance' from the families of his victims.

"Many of the victims' families are now, I believe, feeling robbed and cheated as they will never get to know answers to their questions such as 'what' and 'why did he murder their loved ones'.

However, there was never any indication that Mr Shipman would ever have spoken out as to why he did what he did.

He refused to take part in the inquest despite a live link-up that was set up in prison for him. "Mr Shipman was a man who liked to be able to exercise the power of making life-anddeath decisions."

Mr Pollard added: "It seems that he always ensured to carry out painless deaths on his victims - but was not necessarily the most accomplished of killers and so eventually took his own life.

"I hope that we can remember his relatives in all of this as all their sorrow will now have been brought to the surface.

"Ironically, I do not think the death of Harold Shipman will help with their sadness, and it may be more of a hindrance for them as they will never know the answers as to why he did it.

"I cannot answer why Mr Shipman wasn't on suicide watch and I think we will be all best to wait for an answer from Wakefield Prison's ombudsman.

"The only word that can sum up my thoughts when discovering what this man had done is incredulity - absolute horror at the scale of his ill-doings and wicked behaviour."