Woman's killer was on police bail

Richard Loudwell died after being attacked in Broadmoor

A man who strangled a woman of 82 and left her naked body covered in bites and cigarette burns was on police bail at the time, an inquiry has found.

Richard Loudwell, who had a range of mental health problems, had been released from a psychiatric hospital six months before the killing in 2002.

Three days before attacking Joan Smythe in Rainham, Kent, he was arrested over the alleged rape of a man and bailed.

A report identified "a number of failings" in the lead-up to her death.

Loudwell had been admitted to hospital twice in 2002 and assessed in the community twice before helping Mrs Smythe home with her shopping and killing her.

The independent inquiry into Loudwell's care and treatment was commissioned by Medway Council and Medway Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT).

LOUDWELL'S BACKGROUND 1994 - First referred to mental health services 1997 - First of five admissions as informal psychiatric patient 1999 - Pleaded guilty to indecent assault, put on probation and the Sex Offenders Register 2002 - Numerous encounters with police March 2002 - Went to Medway Hospital but discharged because of sexually inappropriate behaviour

The panel, whose report was published on Thursday, said it was "unable to conclude that the homicide that Richard Loudwell committed was either predictable or preventable".

On the day of Mrs Smythe's killing, Loudwell's sister had telephoned his former probation officer to ask for help about his "increasingly bizarre and troubled behaviour" but there was no reply, the report said.

Richard Loudwell later dialled 999 from the pensioner's home, saying Mrs Smythe was seriously ill. She was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Loudwell, 59, formerly of Gillingham, Kent, admitted manslaughter at Maidstone Crown Court in April 2004.

He was taken to Broadmoor Hospital, Berkshire, but three days later was attacked by Peter Bryan, 35, a convicted killer with "a desire to cannibalise his victims". He died two months later.

Bryan, who had earlier killed his friend Brian Cherry, later pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was jailed for life.

The report only focused on events in the run-up to Mrs Smyth's death.

"Cannibal" Peter Bryan admitted killing Richard Loudwell

It said that, despite the wealth of information available on Loudwell by 2001, there was no attempt to understand the relationship between his mental condition and the reasons for his offending.

But it added there had been "significant improvement" in mental healthcare policies and procedures since 2002.

Bill Gillespie, chief executive of Medway Teaching PCT, said there were now more comprehensive risk assessment tools in place.

There was now an integrated Gillingham Community Mental Health Team and an extra £1m had been invested in adult mental health services.

He apologised to Loudwell's family for the "shortfalls in his care and treatment" and the shortfalls in support for his mother as his principal carer.

And he expressed his sympathy to the family and friends of Mrs Smythe.

Maurice O'Reilly, of Kent Probation Area, said the social worker who Loudwell's sister had tried to contact no longer had a statutory obligation to him as his probation order had ended in February of that year.

He said that he had retained contact with the family as a measure of his goodwill and professionalism.