Shipman detective suspended
Greater Manchester Police have suspended the detective whose investigation into Harold Shipman failed to uncover his serial killing.
Detective Inspector David Smith conducted an investigation into Harold Shipman, which cleared the UK’s most prolific serial killer just months before the extent of his crimes started to unfold.
The detective was criticised by the Shipman inquiry, which concluded that he continued to lie about his role in the investigation after the doctor was found guilty of 15 murders.
Mr Smith was criticised for conducting an inadequate investigation into Harold Shipman, and has since been criticised for withholding evidence in a £10million drug trial that subsequently collapsed.
That case saw a minor drug dealer doused in petrol and set alight after being kidnapped, but the trial was stopped when the defence claimed there was an abuse of the judicial process when police withheld evidence.
Greater Manchester Police announced that David Smith was suspended last Friday and that the decision had been made in relation to both incidences.
