Primrose plans Shipman's funeral

Primrose Shipman left her run-down cottage in North Yorkshire today to make funeral arrangements for her husband.

Escorted by her son Christopher, 32, and two police officers, she walked to a patrol car without making any comment.

Harold Shipman made a six-minute phone call to his wife just before he was locked up in his cell for the last time on Monday night.

The call, which was taped, has been transcribed to discover whether it contains any coded message to his 54-year-old wife.

She remains in denial over her husband's crimes - and it has led to clashes within her family.

A friend visited her home in the village of Walshford days before the suicide. He told how she had protested her husband's innocence in the face of opposition from her sons.

The man said: "It was well known here that Primrose had convinced herself of her husband's innocence. But her sons would argue furiously with her about the subject."