April 13, 2005

WHO KNEW IT WAS THAT EASY?:

Shipman told to hang himself by prison officer, claims inmate (DAVE HIGGENS, 4/13/05, The Scotsman)

A PRISON officer told Harold Shipman to "go and hang himself", a fellow inmate told an inquest yesterday.

David Smith, who is serving a life sentence told a jury at Leeds Crown Court that Shipman was his best friend in Wakefield Prison, where the serial killer was found hanged in his cell in January last year.

Smith told the inquest he overheard a conversation between Shipman and another inmate about what a prison officer had said to him.

He said: "I did hear him say that an officer told him to go and hang himself and if he didn’t know how to do it, he’d be shown how to do it."


Posted by at April 13, 2005 12:03 AM

  

So, there's a problem here?

Posted by: Mikey at April 13, 2005 12:02 PM

Yes, Mikey, and I think it goes to the heart of the capital punishment discussion. If Shipman truly did his evil (and it appears he was guilty) he should have been told when he would be hanged for two reasons: first, because justice required he make amends for his crime, and second, because charity demands we should help him prepare himself for his death at the appointed time. His death served neither noble goal, and only affirmed cowardice and despair.

Posted by: Luciferous at April 13, 2005 12:51 PM

Again, I don't see the problem here. He had his trial, he was convicted, sentenced, and he took his own life while serving that sentence.

I'm not broken up, and I don't give a darn that a guard told him to do himself in. His choice - like all the others he made.

Posted by: Mikey at April 13, 2005 4:33 PM
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