|
John Bodkin Adams (21 January 1899 – 4 July 1983) was an Irish general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Case of Dr John Bodkin Adams )〕 Between 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances.〔Cullen, p. 636〕 Of these, 132 left him money or items in their wills. He was tried and acquitted for the murder of one patient in 1957. Another count of murder was withdrawn by the prosecution in what was later described as "an abuse of process" by the presiding judge Patrick Devlin, causing questions to be asked in parliament about the prosecution's handling of events.〔Cullen, p. 537〕 The trial was featured in headlines around the world〔(Not Guilty ), ''Time'', 22 April 1957.〕 and was described at the time as "one of the greatest murder trials of all time"〔(Law and Literature, ed. Brook Thomas, p. 149 – quoting Rupert Furneaux )〕 and "murder trial of the century".〔''The Times'', 11 June 1985, p. 10〕 It was also described at the time as "unique" because, in the words of the judge, "the act of murder" had "to be proved by expert evidence."〔 The trial had several important legal ramifications. It established the doctrine of double effect, whereby a doctor giving treatment with the aim of relieving pain may, as an unintentional result, shorten life.〔Devlin, 1985〕 Secondly, 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.〔Surtees, p. 132〕 Finally, though a defendant had never been required to give evidence in his own defence, the judge underlined in his summing-up that no prejudice should be attached by the jury to Adams not doing so.〔 The case, and the inability to convict Adams of murder, is also known for widely suspected political interference from Sir Roland Gwynne, ex-Attorney-General Hartley Shawcross, and various members of the Harold Macmillan government. Adams was found guilty in a subsequent trial of 13 offences of prescription fraud, lying on cremation forms, obstructing a police search and failing to keep a dangerous drugs register. He was removed from the Medical Register in 1957 and reinstated in 1961 after two failed applications. Scotland Yard's files on the case were initially closed to the public for 75 years, which would have been until 2033.〔Cullen, p. 7〕 However, following a request by historian Pamela Cullen, special permission was granted in 2003 to reopen the files. ==Early years== Adams was born into a deeply religious family of Plymouth Brethren, an austere Protestant sect of which he remained a member for his entire life.〔He left £500 in his will to Marine Hall, his local Brethren congregation. (Cullen, p. 554)〕 His father, Samuel, was a preacher in the local congregation and by profession was a watchmaker. He also had a passionate interest in cars, which he would pass on to John. In 1896 Samuel was 39 years old when he married Ellen Bodkin, aged 30, in Randalstown, (now Northern) Ireland. John was their first son, followed by a brother William Samuel in 1903. In 1914 Adams's father died of a stroke. Four years later William died in the 1918 influenza pandemic.〔Cullen, pp. 19–23〕 After attending Coleraine Academical Institution for several years Adams matriculated at Queen's University Belfast at the age of 17. There he was seen as a "plodder" and "lone wolf" by his lecturers〔 and, partly because of an illness (probably tuberculosis), he missed a year of studies. He graduated in 1921 having failed to qualify for honours.〔 In 1921 surgeon Arthur Rendle Short offered him a position as assistant houseman at Bristol Royal Infirmary. Adams spent a year there but did not prove a success.〔Cullen, p. 23, p. 608〕 On Short's advice, Adams applied for a job as a general practitioner in a Christian practice in Eastbourne.〔Cullen, p. 24〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Bodkin Adams」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|