THE media circus gathered at Preston Crown Court earlier this week as family GP Harold Shipman was found guilty of murdering 15 women patients and forging a will.

National and regional news journalists clamoured outside the two entrances of Sessions House, in Lancaster Road and next to the Harris Museum (pictured), waiting for people involved in the case and relatives of the murder victims to appear.

Meanwhile, camera crews and photographers, including the Citizen's Kevin Walsh, crowded along the police barriers opposite the Cenotaph, to capture the moment Britain's worse mass murderer was driven away to begin a life sentence behind bars. It was a sight last seen in Preston seven years ago when John Venables and Robert Thompson were found guilty of the murder of Liverpool toddler, James Bulger.

Prosecuting counsel in the Shipman trial, Richard Henriques QC, also represented the Crown in the Bulger court case.

As a succession of camera flashes lit up the evening sky, Angela Woodruff, daughter of Shipman murder victim Kathleen Grundy, choked back tears to describe her mum as a "happy, active, caring, energetic and loving person".

Another grieving relative was Peter Wagstaff, son of murdered Laura Wagstaff, who told the waiting media that Shipman had "callously betrayed" his mother's trust.

Now, as the media entourage move on to new stories, health secretary Alan Milburn MP has called for an independent inquiry to ensure another Shipman case never happens again.

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