eBay Removes Dr. Harold Shipman's Examination Table, Suspends Seller Account
The online buy and sell site eBay decided to remove the examination table belonging to the late Dr. Harold Shipman, one of the deadliest serial killers in United Kingdom. It also suspended the account of the seller who recently put up the item for sale at £10,000 in the online store.
In a news report from Metro, an eBay spokesperson stated, "We don't allow items of this nature to be sold on eBay and have removed the listing and taken steps to stop it, or similar items, being relisted."
There were already two offers for the padded blue auctioned item since its listing on the website from Friday, April 11. It was described with the following words on the eBay listing: "In use for many years Abraham Ormerod Day Hospital, Todmorden, which was originally opened in 1938."
The seller who put the controversial item on sale was Marjorie Chakravarti, a 72-year-old woman who used to work as senior sister at the Abraham Ormerod Day Hospital in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, UK.
She put up the medical couch for sale while decluttering her house with the hope that the item will attract the "ghoulish". "My husband is ill, I am down-sizing. I have three sheds filled with rubbish and my intention is to sell it," Mrs. Chakravarti stated.
The lady had not met Dr. Harold Shipman who the original owner of this macabre item even though they used to work in the same hospital. She just bought it from a friend for around £20 for her use while studying several medical courses.
Despite the horrible crimes associated with the table, Mrs. Chakravati still hoped it will attract interest from other medical practitioners or from people with special interest on items with unusual histories.
"In view of the history of this item possible attention hopefully would be from museums or people with interest in items with unusual histories," she added.
Dr. Harol Shipman was a General Practitioner who was convicted with 15 life sentences for murdering over 200 patients in a span of 27 years during his service beginning 1971. He committed suicide in jail cell in 2004.