Serial killer Harold Shipman was found dead in his prison cell

The five-minute hearing at Wakefield Coroner's Court heard the 57-year-old former GP was found hanged in his cell at Wakefield Prison on January 13.

The body of Shipman - who is believed to have murdered at least 215 of his patients - was released to his family.

Two examinations have provisionally concluded his death was consistent with being hanged by a ligature.

Cremation order

West Yorkshire coroner David Hinchliff said Shipman's body had been formally identified by his wife, Primrose Shipman, in Sheffield on January 14 .

He said he was issuing a cremation order for the doctor and an interim death certificate.

"There is no objection by the police or any other person or authority to me now releasing the body to the family for funeral purposes," he said.

No details were given in court of when and where any funeral will take place.

He said the inquest will be resumed at a date to be fixed when all inquiries are complete.

No mention was made during the brief hearing of Shipman's crimes.

Suicide watch

Shipman had been serving 15 life sentences for 15 murders, and four years for forging a will.

In 2002 Home Secretary David Blunkett ruled he should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Dame Janet Smith, who chairs the continuing inquiry into his killings, reported in 2002 that she believed Shipman had killed 215 patients and there was a "real suspicion" over another 45.

The GP was on suicide watch at two other prisons earlier in his sentence, but not at Wakefield since his arrival on 18 June last year.

Prisons ombudsman Stephen Shaw is to launch an investigation into Shipman's death and a separate police inquiry is to be carried out.

The GP's death provoked anger among some victims' relatives, including Jane Ashton-Hibbert, whose grandmother Hilda was unlawfully killed by Shipman.