Shipman detective 'struggled' with case

A detective who failed to unearth any evidence that Harold Shipman had embarked on a killing spree told an inquiry yesterday that he had "probably" not been asking the right questions.

Detective Inspector David Smith, who was alerted to suspicions about Shipman by the Manchester coroner, said there were no guidelines on how to tackle such a case. After a "discreet" investigation in March 1998, he decided the Hyde GP had done nothing improper and closed the case.

In the following five months, before he was caught, Shipman murdered three more women, Winifred Mellor, 73, Joan Melia, 73, and Kathleen Grundy, 81. He was convicted of murdering 15 patients with heroin injections in January 2000 but police believe he may have killed hundreds more.

Greater Manchester Police offered its "regrets" to the families of Shipman's victims this month, admitting that its initial management of the case had been "flawed".

At the Shipman inquiry, in Manchester Town Hall, Mr Smith said the investigation "was something I had never experienced before".

His initial reaction was to think that the allegations that the GP was killing his patients were beyond the bounds of reality. He decided to try to obtain medical records and death certificates – however, he struggled to understand the medical terminology used.

The inquiry heard that Mr Smith interviewed Dr Linda Reynolds, who worked at a practice close to Shipman and was the first person to raise concerns that Shipman was killing patients. She had noticed a high number of deaths among his elderly female patients.

Caroline Swift QC, the counsel for the inquiry, accused Mr Smith of a "strangely passive" attitude in the interview with Dr Reynolds and of failing to ask relevant questions.

Mr Smith replied: "This was uncharted territory for me." He admitted he "probably" didn't ask the right questions.