Shipman victims' tissue case: Police 'no case to answer'

An investigation into how police disposed of human tissue from victims of serial killer Dr Harold Shipman has found no officers have a case to answer for misconduct.

Police watchdog the IPCC carried out three investigations into Greater Manchester Police (GMP) following a number of allegations made by a whistleblower.

Another of the investigations found officers had witnessed a suspected sex offender enter a premises with two young people and had not intervened.

Twelve bodies were exhumed as part of the GMP investigation into Shipman, who was convicted in 2000 of murdering 15 of his patients and is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of many more.

Items of human tissue were taken from the bodies, but in 2011 the force took the decision made to dispose of the tissue, although victims' families were not informed.

An IPCC spokesman said:

Sir Peter Fahy, former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), was initially served with criminal and gross misconduct notices following the allegations made by the whistleblower, a former GMP officer, in 2014.

The notices, relating to his involvement in the investigation into the suspected sex offender, were later withdrawn.

The IPCC said their investigation found a detective superintendent and a detective inspector had made a "conscious decision" not to intervene when the suspected sex offender was observed entering a premises with two young people during an operation in 2011.

The watchdog found the officers' actions could amount to misconduct.

The spokesman said a misconduct meeting had been held by GMP in March which resulted in performance measures and a development plan being put in place for both officers.

A third investigation following the whistleblower's allegations found officers allowed a robbery to take place at a pub in Stockport while conducting a surveillance operation targeting an organised crime group.

The spokesman said:

The IPCC said all other allegations made by the whistleblower had been returned to GMP to be dealt with.