Shipman - Britain's worst serial killer

FOR more than two decades, family doctor Harold Frederick Shipman waged a “shocking beyond belief” killing spree that left at least 215 patients dead.

Said to have been Britain's, if not the world's, most prolific serial killer, Shipman, who died yesterday aged 57, may also have murdered a further 45 innocent victims.

Once described as "addicted to killing", he targeted middle-aged and elderly women patients, to whom he administered deadly diamorphine injections.