Image of notorious GP serial killer used in 'absolutely disgusting' insurance advert

Harold Shipman was a former GP, dubbed "Dr Death", who abused his position to murder elderly patients at the turn of the millennium.

16:26, Thu, Jan 26, 2023 | UPDATED: 16:27, Thu, Jan 26, 2023

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A life insurance firm with a reputation for running provocative headlines has used an image of a notorious GP serial killer to push its services, sparking outrage among the families of his victims. DeadHappy, a Leicester–based firm, ran an image of Harold Shipman alongside the line “Life insurance, because you never know who your doctor might be”. The former GP was convicted of killing 15 elderly patients in 1999 and sentenced to life imprisonment, with further inquiries suggesting he could have killed up to 250 people. One of the complainants, Tim Hill, whose great grandfather, Charles Henry Barlow, was killed by Shipman in 1995, described the advert as “utterly unconscionable” and called for “judgement” from the UK advertising watchdog the ASA.

The DeadHappy advertisement using Shipman’s face as the centrepiece appeared on Facebook to widespread disgust and anger.

Mr Hill said the use of the serial killer’s image was “despicable and unacceptable”, while the founder of an insurance broker claimed she had logged an official complaint to the Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, and the Advertising Standards Authority over the advert.

Mr Hill told MailOnline: “I was bewildered that anyone would agree to sign it off – everyone who must have sat around at a meeting table.

“There's no consideration for the families. I'm not a close relative - but there are thousands of us who are affected by this, it's not a distant memory, it's still something people will remember.”

Harold Shipman was convicted of killing 15 people

Harold Shipman was convicted of killing 15 people in 1999 (Image: GETTY )

Life Insurance firm DeadHappy's advert featured Shipman as the centrepiece (Image: DEADHAPPY )

The design engineer added: “I find it utterly unconscionable for DeadHappy to use the image of Dr Shipman for crude jokes and cheap publicity.

“'Dark humour' can have a place in society, but it should not be the abuse of tolerance for the sake of publicity.

“They purposefully issue this style of content with the intent of causing a backlash and promoting their business.”

Mr Hill’s mother’s grandfather, Charles Henry Barlow, died at his home on November 22, 1995 after a visit from the killer GP.

The 88-year-old former police sergeant from Hyde had received a visit from Shipman just minutes before he died, and the formal inquiry into his crimes concluded Mr Barlow had been unlawfully killed.

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Harold Shipman could have killed around 250 people

Harold Shipman could have killed around 250 people, according to unofficial inquires (Image: GETTY )

Mr Hill added that, like his great grandfather, many of Shipman’s victims had been elderly, meaning that their direct relatives would likely be those targeted for life insurance adverts now, making the campaign all the more inappropriate.

He said: “As the majority of Shipman's victims were elderly, I should imagine there are now thousands of their relatives around my age, in DeadHappy's target audience, who could have been exposed to this advert.”

Shipman, who died by suicide in Wakefield Prison in January 2004 at the age of 57, after being handed down a life sentence four years earlier, is thought to have been one of the UK’s most prolific serial killers.

Kathryn Knowles, founder of insurance broker Cura, said “people within our industry are appalled, absolutely appalled” by the advert.

Speaking to the Telegraph, she said: “I just don’t see how anyone in their right mind could have thought this was the right thing to do. People within our industry are appalled, absolutely appalled.”

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There is a firm that is promoting life insurance using the picture of a mass murderer to promote their services. I will name neither as I won’t give them the satisfaction of popping up in more search results.

Please know that many of us in insurance find this beyond despicable.
— Kathryn Knowles, PhD (@Kathryn_Cura) January 23, 2023

Referring to the living relatives of Shipman’s victims, she added: “Why would you put people through that?”

DeadHappy has defended the use of Shipman’s image, saying it was their “intention to make people stop and think”, but they have subsequently expressed their “sincere apologies” to anyone affected by it.

Andy Knott, founder of DeadHappy, said: “Being provocative is different to being offensive and it is of course never our intention to offend or upset people. It is our intention to make people stop and think. “Death is still a taboo subject in our society, which is why we feel so passionately about ‘changing attitudes to death’.”

Mr Knott added: “If however you have been personally distressed by this advert we do sincerely apologise.”