John Bodkin Adams | |
|---|---|
 Adams in the 1940s | |
| Born | 21 January 1899 |
| Died | 4 July 1983 (aged 84) Eastbourne, Sussex, England |
| Occupation | General practitioner |
| Known for | Suspected serial killer |
| Criminal charge | Fraud |
| Criminal penalty | Struck off the Medical Register in 1957 (reinstated in 1961) |
John Bodkin Adams (21 January 1899 – 4 July 1983) was a British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, 163 of his patients died while in comas, which was deemed to be worthy of investigation.[1] In addition, 132 out of 310 patients had left Adams money or items in their wills.
Adams was tried and acquitted for the murder of one patient in 1957, while another count of murder was withdrawn by the prosecution in what was later described as "an abuse of process" by the presiding judge Patrick Devlin, Baron Devlin, causing questions to be asked in Parliament about the prosecution's handling of events.[2] Adams was found guilty in a subsequent trial of thirteen offences of prescription drug fraud, lying on cremation forms, obstruction of justice during a police search and failing to keep a dangerous drugs register. He was struck off by the General Medical Council in 1957 and reinstated in 1961 after two failed applications.
Adams's first trial was described as "one of the greatest murder trials of all time" and dubbed the "murder trial of the century."[3][4] The trial also established the doctrine of double effect, whereby a doctor giving treatment with the aim of relieving pain may lawfully, as an unintentional result, shorten life.[5] Because of the publicity surrounding Adams's committal hearing, the law was changed to allow defendants to ask for such hearings to be held in private.[6] Furthermore, although a defendant had not been required within recorded legal history to give evidence in his own defence as part of the right to silence in England and Wales, the judge underlined in his summing-up that no prejudice should be attached by the jury to Adams not doing so.[7][page needed]
Scotland Yard's files on the case were initially closed to the public for 75 years and would have remained so until 2033.[8] Following a request by historian Pamela Cullen, special permission was granted in 2003 to reopen the files, which have since been used by several researchers.
- ^ Robins, p. 283.
- ^ Cullen, p. 537.
- ^ Thomas, Brook (2002). Law and Literature. Gunter Narr Verlag. p. 149. ISBN 978-3-8233-4172-7.
- ^ The Times, 11 June 1985, p. 10
- ^ Price, David (1997). "Euthanasia, pain relief and double effect". Legal Studies. 17 (2): 327. doi:10.1111/j.1748-121X.1997.tb00410.x. S2CID 143186793.
- ^ Surtees, p. 132.
- ^ Devlin.
- ^ Cullen, p. 7.