Shipman colleague concerned over cremations as 199th patient dies

Laura Frances Linn had been a patient of Harold Shipman since had arrived in 1977 and had actually followed him when he moved surgeries.

On the morning of 13 February 1998, she felt unwell and, too sick to visit his surgery, Shipman agreed to visit her. Within 20 minutes of his arrival, Mrs Frances was dead.

It was the sheer volume of cases like the above that alerted Shipman’s colleague, Dr Susan Booth...