`It was right to hold the inquiry in public'.PUBLICATION of the Shipman ship·man n. 1. A sailor. 2. A shipmaster. inquiry's interim report ``wholly vindicated'' the decision to hold the investigation in public, a solicitor on behalf of the victims said. Ann Alexander, who represents nearly 300 families, said no one would ever be able to appreciate what those families had been through and what they were still enduring. ``Harold Shipman Harold Frederick "Fred" Shipman (January 14, 1946 – January 13, 2004) was an English general practitioner who was one of the most prolific known serial killers in modern history. is without equal as a murderer,'' she said. At a news conference in Hyde, Greater Manchester, the solicitor said families had to fight all the way to the High Court to ensure the inquiry into Shipman's crimes was held in public. ``I firmly believe that the decision of the families to fight for a public inquiry has been wholly vindicated by the process to date.'' But while the process of families coming to terms with what Shipman did may be coming an end, the legal process still had a long way to go, Ms Alexander said. ``From a legal point of view, the inquiry process is still continuing,'' she said. ``Dame Janet has just completed the next part of the inquiry which was to look at the first police investigation and she will move on in October to look at the next parts.'' It would be some time before the full inquiry would be able to draw to a close and conclude what lessons could be learnt to ensure that another doctor was not allowed to do the same thing again. She said the fight to have the inquiry held and to have it held in public had never been an attempt to win compensation but if lessons were learned and systems changed ``that would be a fitting memorialto the families.'' For those who had in the past few days received inconclusive INCONCLUSIVE. What does not put an end to a thing. Inconclusive presumptions are those which may be overcome by opposing proof; for example, the law presumes that he who possesses personal property is the owner of it, but evidence is allowed to contradict this presumption, and show who is verdicts from Dame Janet, Ms Alexander said she hoped they would feel that all that could be done had been done. She said: ``I've not obviously managed to speak to all those families but I hope they do feel that Dame Janet has conducted a very thorough and meticulous me·tic·u·lous adj. 1. Extremely careful and precise. 2. Extremely or excessively concerned with details. [From Latin met investigation into what happened.'' ``I feel they will have to accept that there really is not anything more that can now be done.'' |
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