London - A coroner yesterday recorded a verdict of unlawful killing after hearing that a patient of Harold Shipman died after he visited her to treat an inflamed bunion. Serial-killer Shipman alerted relatives to Ms Valerie Cuthbert's death when he returned to her home in Greater Manchester, in May, 1996, after calling to see her earlier that day, an inquest was told.
The ruling by South Manchester Coroner, Mr John Pollard, sitting at Tameside Magistrates' Court, takes Shipman's official death toll up to 20 but a recent report by the Department of Health found he may have murdered up to 300 people.