Knife maniac sent home by clinic

A former mental patient was being questioned today after the knife rampage which left one man dead and five other people seriously injured.

Turkish-born Ismail Dogan, 30, said to have a history of paranoia and depression, had been discharged from a mental health clinic more than two years ago. It is not clear what contact, if any, he had with doctors in recent months.

Today detectives were continuing to question him about the 67-minute stabbing spree yesterday, when he cruised the streets in his car picking out victims at random.

The man who died was a 58-year-old married father of two from Enfield. He was stabbed four times, with one blow struck close to the heart. The construction worker was attacked as he walked to work.

A man of 76 who managed to walk to hospital after being stabbed but who is suffering from a heart condition was described as in a "serious" condition today. A 30-year-old man was said to be in a "life-threatening" condition.

Chief Superintendent Simon O'Brien said those attacked were picked at random. "A lot of them did not realise they had been stabbed, they thought they had been punched and carried on walking. One guy walked for two or three streets before he realised what had happened and saw the blood.

"One man had kissed goodbye to his girlfriend minutes earlier and was stabbed as he walked to the railway station to go to work."

The attacks have raised new concerns about the treatment of mental patients in the community. Jayne Zito from the Zito Trust today condemned what she claimed is a failure of health professionals and police to listen to the concerns of patients' families.

The Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust confirmed it had treated a man in the past, but refused to reveal his identity or say what treatment he received. The trust said he had been discharged more than two years ago, but added that it will now further investigate the details of his care.

Dogan was a patient in the mental health unit at St Ann's Hospital in Haringey. Detectives from Scotland Yard's specialist crime directorate were today probing his background in a bid to establish what prompted the attacks.

Last night, police sealed off his ?200,000 terrace home in Birkbeck Road, Tottenham. Two officers stood guard outside as forensic experts searched for evidence.

Dogan was arrested at the house by unarmed officers yesterday morning after he drove home following the attacks. The victims were said to include dentist Roger Levy, 49, who was attacked in Gladstone Avenue, Wood Green. He is believed to be in a stable condition in hospital. Another was said to be Geoffrey Arthur, 50, who was attacked in Ecclesbourne Gardens, near Green Lanes.

The first stabbing happened just before 8.20am outside Edmonton Green railway station. The victim, aged 29 and believed to have the surname Symes, staggered down the road before collapsing. Last night he was in the recovery unit at North Middlesex Hospital.

The knifeman then drove to Gladstone Avenue where he attacked Mr Levy. Estate agent Maya Jamil, 20, said: "I heard screams, went outside and he was on the ground with blood all around him." The next victim was a 20-year-old woman on a bicycle in Great Cambridge Road, Tottenham. She was found at 9.07am and is in a stable condition in the London Heart Hospital after surgery .

Retired insurance worker Tony Jarvis, 68, said: "I heard horrible screaming, went out and saw her in the road. She was completely motionless and I thought she was dead."

At 9.11am a 50-year-old man believed to be Geoffrey Arthur was found stabbed several times above the left hip in Ecclesbourne Gardens, Green Lanes. An off-duty policewoman saw the attack and alerted colleagues to the registration numberof the knifeman's blood-splattered car.

The next attack, which ended in death, was in Advent Way, Edmonton at 9.27. The victim staggered into a factory office where he collapsed and was given emergency first aid.

Delivery driver Dervish Dervish, 54, cradled the dying man as they waited for an ambulance. "He was so white I didn't think he had any blood left in him," he said. He kept saying, 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe', then he stopped. I felt like crying."

The final victim, the 76-year-old man, stumbled into the North Middlesex Hospital at 10.45am after he was attacked in Empire Avenue, north Tottenham.