Killer 'sent home in error'

A paranoid schizophrenic who went on a Christmas killing spree after a locum doctor sent him home from hospital should not have been released, an official inquiry is expected to conclude today.

Wayne Hutchinson stalked the streets of Brixton for six days over Christmas 1994 with a knife and a shotgun. The 20-year-old, a cocaine addict, drug dealer and member of the notorious Brixton gang Posse 28, shot dead nightclub bouncer Delroy Thomas and fatally stabbed 41-year-old mother Margaret Hatton, as well as knifing and shooting three other men.

Hutchinson, who had been described in medical records just weeks before as "extremely paranoid and argumentative" is believed to have carried out the killing spree in a bid to regain street credibility after being treated at a psychiatric hospital.

He had been granted home leave from the South Western Hospital, in Brixton, by a locum doctor who did not know his psychiatric history on 10 November 1994. He was discharged in his absence on 28 November and started the violent rampage on Boxing Day.

He was convicted of two charges of manslaughter and attempted murder in January 1996 and given six life sentences. The Court of Appeal quashed the life sentences and ruled that Hutchinson should be detained indefinitely at Broadmoor Hospital.

An independent inquiry into his care and treatment will be published later today by Lambeth Southwark and Lewisham Health Authority.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of mental health charity SANE, said: "Wayne Hutchinson posed a serious enough threat that his consultant sought a secure bed, yet none was available. Until people like Wayne Hutchinson can be managed in the community, we will not be able to protect either them or the public."