THE apparent suicide of Harold Shipman in Wakefield Prison has provoked a wide range of reactions. Many of them are knee jerk and prohibitively costly.

At the front of the queue is that band of clowns who insist on playing the blame game - usually with public bodies in their sights. They cannot accept the notion that an individual has responsibility for their actions, that sometimes events happen over which society has no control.

This time they have attacked the Home Office and prison warders, berating them for not keeping a constant vigil on Britain's most notorious mass murderer.

There are prisoners, such as teenagers locked up for the first time, who are vulnerable to thoughts of suicide and warrant extra protection.

But the only way to guarantee suicide protection is to provide one-to-one surveillance and to demand this course of action on a man who will spend every day for the rest of his life behind bars is simply unrealistic.

I also regard as knee jerk the immediate announcement that taxpayers will be footing the bill for an inquiry into Shipman's suicide, which will be led by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman.

We already have a system by which deaths by non-natural causes are investigated. This is overseen by a coroner and I fail to see why Dr Shipman's demise should be treated any differently.

Suicide is rarely painless for the relatives left behind and, in some cases, is a final cowardly act by a self-obsessed individual.

In Shipman's case it seems to have been pre-meditated, a carefully-planned action carried out after he had considered all the options.

Much is being made of the fact that, in killing himself, Dr Shipman has enabled his wife to benefit from an NHS widow's pension of about £10,000-a-year. Far more than she would have received had he died after the age of 60.

Well, the Home Office estimated the cost of keeping a prisoner in jail for a year at £38,000 - so one way of looking at this is that the public is £28,000 a year better off as a result of Dr Shipman's death.

Finally, we come to those who suggest prisoners should always be given some hope that one day they could be released. That life should never mean life because it could "drive inmate to kill themselves".

While rehabilitation is a crucial aspect of prison life, deterrent and - even more importantly - protection of the public must also be considered.

There are some prisoners whose crimes are so horrendous they should never be released from jail. This acts as a warning to others but also protects the public.

Releasing people like Dr Shipman and Ian Huntley back into society is a risk simply not worth taking and if that results in such individuals taking their own lives, then so be it.

But let us be clear: the 'blame' for such deaths should lie with the person concerned, not hard-working prison staff who have enough on their plates without having to nursemaid evil individuals who have shown not one jot of concern for their victims.

Published: 16/01/2004