Shipman's 'diary of despair' recorded path to suicide

Serial killer Harold Shipman’s deteriorating state of mind and his path to suicide were recorded in his prison diary.

Before he died, Britain’s worst mass murderer copyrighted his “diary of despair” in an attempt to stop it being published.

But in a report into how the former GP was able to hang himself in his cell at Wakefield jail, prisons and probation ombudsman Stephen Shaw published chilling extracts from the diary.

They reveal a man who appears to have been on the brink of suicide for years and who carried out a calculated plan to cheat justice by taking his own life.

Shipman’s main preoccupations before killing himself were the financial well-being of his wife and that his prison privileges, including the TV in his cell and extra money for phone calls, had been taken away.

He had been placed on suicide watch four times before but was not being held in a “safe” cell at the time of his death.

The first extract from his diary suggests he began planning to kill himself at least three years before doing so and that he fooled prison officials into thinking he was no risk to himself.

On January 13, 2001 he wrote: “So depressed. If [illegible] says no then that is it. There is no possible way I can carry on, it would be a kindness to…”

A day later, on his 55th birthday, he was even more explicit.

“[My wife] and the kids have to go on without me when it is the right time. Got to keep the façade intact for the time being,” he wrote.

On March 27, 2001 he states clearly: “I’m looking at dying, the only question is when and can I hide it from everyone?”

A few weeks later, on April 13, 2001 which was Good Friday, the serial killer again suggests his family would be better off without him.

“If I was dead they’d stop being in limbo and get on with their life perhaps. I’ll think a bit more about it.

"I’m desperate, no one to talk about it who I can trust. Everyone will talk to the PO’s (prison officers) then I’ll be watched 24hrs a day and I don’t want that.”

On June 26 2001 he wrote: “As near suicide as can be, know how and when just not yet.”

His 56th birthday, on January 14 2002, marked an even lower point.

Shipman wrote: “56 today, cards from everyone – very very sad day, not what life is about at all. Not very good, it must be dreadful for her (his wife).”

Later, his thoughts turned obsessively to how wife Primrose was managing with no money and his battle to keep his pension.

On July 31 2002 he wrote: “She’s getting no money off the DHSS, supported by the kids. What a terrible set-up. How is she coping?

A further entry on October 2002 reads: “No money. (Wife) not able to get DHSS to see the poverty she is in. Only the kids who have been absolutely brilliant – the pension appeal.”

On January 7, 2003 he wrote: “A new year, a visit from (wife). Still no money off DHSS … If this year doesn’t get anywhere I know it is not worth the effort. I have to lock down this overwhelming emotion or else I’d be on a suicide watch or drugs.”

The report also revealed his battle with the prison authorities about the loss of his privileges over the Christmas period shortly before his death on January 13, 2004.

Unusually for a prisoner Shipman attended an appeal hearing in person and went into great detail about the points system used to assess privileges, claiming he had been treated unfairly and that his assessment was “less than sympathetic”.

He also complained that the personal officer assigned to him had paid him no attention.

Shipman said: “My personnel (sic) officer has made no contact since I sought him out to introduce myself soon after my arrival here.

“No wing officer has asked how I am settling in, coping or whether I have any problems.”