London - Harold Shipman, the family doctor who last month became Britain's biggest serial killer when he was convicted of murdering 15 patients, has lodged an appeal against his conviction, the BBC said yesterday. The BBC said a spokeswoman for Preston Crown Court, where Shipman was convicted on January 31st, had confirmed that an appeal had been lodged and papers were being prepared.
Shipman was handed down 15 life sentences for murdering 15 of his female patients with lethal injections of diamorphine, the clinical name for heroin. The 54-year-old former general practitioner is suspected of up to 146 murders during his 20-year career.