Killer may sue psychiatric hospital

Mr Dodd was described as 'a gentle and shy man'

A paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed to death a pensioner as he walked his dogs on a beach is considering legal action against the hospital which was providing his care in the community.

Paul Khan, 34, from Cardiff - jailed for life at Mold Crown Court last month - had a history of violence and has in fact won damages following previous legal action.

An investigation by BBC Wales' Week In Week Out (Wiwo) programme reveals that Khan - who stabbed retired accountant Brian Dodd 37 times - feels he and his victim have been let down by the system meant to protect vulnerable, mentally ill patients and the public.

During his court hearing, it emerged that he carried out the frenzied knife attack on the 72-year-old three years after being released back into the community following a previous knife attack on a stranger in a Cardiff library.

He is now serving a life sentence at the top security Ashworth Hospital on Merseyside after admitting Mr Dodd's manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

I can't put into words what I feel for Mrs Dodd. I feel for her in my heart because she's lost the man she loved for years. They should be enjoying a happy retirement now. It need never have happened. Yasmin Khan

His family in Cardiff claim that he had asked the city's Whitchurch Hospital for more help in coping with his illness in the run up to this random, motiveless, attack in March this year.

Wiwo has learned that after the first attack in which he slashed open a man's face, he pursued legal action against Whitchurch.

He alleged that his paranoid schizophrenia had not been properly diagnosed and treated.

While the hospital did not admit liability, Khan received compensation in an out of court settlement.

Following the attack on a stranger in Cardiff Library in 1996, Khan served six years in top and medium secure mental hospitals.

With treatment, he recovered to such an extent that he was gradually released back into the community by the Caswell Clinic in Bridgend in October 2000.

The murder took place near Ffrith beach festival gardens

His care in the community was then handed on to Whitchurch Hospital in January the following year.

The treatment appeared to work but in March this year Khan stopped taking his medication, and concealed his condition from staff.

And his family claim that both attacks might have been prevented with better care in the community.

His aunt, Yasmin Khan said: "We are all devastated. I can't put into words what I feel for Mrs Dodd.

"I feel for her in my heart because she's lost the man she loved for years. They should be enjoying a happy retirement now. It need never have happened."

The programme - to be broadcast on BBC1 Wales at 2235 GMT on Tuesday - also follows the emotional journey widow, Enid Dodd makes to understand her husband's killer, and to confront the people who she says let him and Paul Khan down.

"What I want them to say to me is that 'I made a mistake', not that it's going to bring Brian back to me, but just to have that little bit of satisfaction that somebody has admitted that they did make a mistake, and that they are very, very sorry what has happened."

Health Minister Jane Hutt has ordered an independent external inquiry into the handling of the case.

It is the first of its kind in Wales whereas in England they are automatic.

The inquiry, to get under way in the new year, will set out to examine all aspects of the care provided for Paul Khan.

Whitchurch Hospital refused to take part in the programme. It said it wanted to wait until the inquiry to comment.

Week In Week Out BBC1 Wales on Tuesday at 2235 GMT