Harold Frederick "Fred" Shipman (January 14, 1946 - January 13, 2004) was an English general practitioner, who was one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history.
He was convicted on 15 sample charges in 2000 and sentenced to 15 concurrent life sentences.
After his trial, an inquest decided that there was enough evidence to suggest that Shipman had killed a total of 215 people, about 80 percent of them female. His youngest victim was Peter Lewis, a 41-year-old man . The official inquiry into his career concluded that he had killed 215 people, and that there was "real suspicion" that he had murdered a total of 250. Some reports have claimed that Shipman may have killed more than 400 people.
Much of Britain's legislation concerning health care and medicine was reviewed and modified as a direct and indirect result of Shipman's crimes, especially after the findings of the Shipman Inquiry which began on September 1, 2000.
