The families of the women murdered by Harold Shipman last night spoke of their anger and grief after 15 guilty verdicts were delivered against the once-trusted local GP.
Angela Woodruff, the daughter of Kathleen Grundy whose death led to the eventual unmasking of the murderer, said the GP had betrayed her mother's trust. Struggling with her emotions as she spoke on the steps of the court, Mrs Woodruff said: "We are pleased that the trial is over and relieved at the outcome. It's just awful the way that he abused the trust which all his patients had in him. It's evil. "She would tell us about him, how caring he was. The betrayal is one of the things that I really find it hard to come to terms with; that the doctor that you respected and you thought respected you had betrayed you."
Mrs Woodruff said the case had "exposed some disturbing weaknesses in the monitoring and certification of death and the handling of dangerous drugs" and called for the procedure on certification of death to be looked at, adding: "Sadly nothing that has happened here, or will happen in the future, can bring back my mum and all the other victims. "We hope that we can now have the space and time to remember my mum as she was - a happy, active, caring, energetic, loving person, whom we miss so much."
The health secretary, Alan Milburn, who is due to make a Commons statement on the Shipman case today, said last night: "Our sympathies lie with the very many families who have been victims of these dreadful crimes. As an individual, Harold Shipman betrayed the trust of his patients. He also betrayed the professionalism of our country's dedicated family doctors."
The relatives of other patients who suspect that Shipman murdered their loved ones spoke of the agony of their uncertainty. The family of one victim issued a statement saying: "Jean Lilley was a loving, caring wife and mother. She will always be loved and missed. Dr Shipman may have taken her life from us but he can never take our memories."
In another statement, the family of victim Kathleen Wagstaff said: "We feel a sense of relief that this part of the nightmare is at an end and justice has been done. To lose our mother in such circumstances leaves us with a feeling of deep sadness that we were so badly betrayed by someone in whom we had great trust."
The family of Norah Nuttall said: "Our thoughts go to all the relatives involved including the family of Mr Shipman."
Joan Dean, 75, who died in 1998, was a patient of Shipman's. Her son, Brian Dean, said her death had been completely unexpected. "The problem we have is that it's rather like a circle - there's no beginning and no end," he said. "Was she murdered? Could she die of natural causes? And that is far harder to cope with than actually knowing one way or the other because you never suspect a doctor of doing anything other but to help a patient's health."
Jeff Moysey, a Hyde GP who knew Shipman, said: "We have all lived with the possibility of this verdict for a number of months but it still comes as quite a shock and we all horrified and saddened that a man who was once a respected member of the community has been shown to be guilty of such awful crimes."
Age Concern, which counted Kathleen Grundy among its volunteers, said the Shipman case would horrify older people across the country, but a spokesman said the verdict should not undermine confidence in doctors. "This is a very rare case where one man has deliberately set out to kill patients in his care. "We hope this case will be recognised as a very unusual and tragic one."
David Hagg, the assistant chief executive of Tameside council, said: "I think a lot of people have been shocked by this case and clearly it has been a traumatic time for relatives and friends of those people involved with the tragic events. "It has put the town into the spotlight and that's been hard for a lot of people. We would ask everyone to give them the opportunity to move on with their lives and deal with the shock and trauma they have been through."