Grimsby stabbing: Charity calls for protection inquiry

The 54-year-old, convicted yesterday of the murder of heavily pregnant Claire Wilson, 21, had warned police and doctors on three separate occasions that he was hearing voices telling him to kill.

He was admitted to a psychiatric unit at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby as a voluntary patient on two occasions after going into a police station armed with a knife.

After a third visit he was again referred to the hospital but after being assessed was judged to have been exaggerating his symptoms and was turned away. He was prescribed anti-psychotic drugs through his GP and given the number of a mental health crisis team. McMullan was also directed to the services offered by a alcohol advisory charity in Grimsby.

The chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, Marjorie Wilson, said: "The difficulty is who is responsible for someone who falls between mad and bad in order to protect the community in which they live.

"Only a full independent inquiry will answer the question of whether there was a lack of judgement on the part of mental health services to assess the risk that he posed and to ensure close supervision upon discharge."

The Strategic Health Authority for Yorkshire and the Humber said it would commission and investigation of the case.

After the killing McMullan walked "casually" away and claimed he could remember nothing of the incident.

Psychiatrists who examined him and gave evidence at his trial disagreed over whether he was mentally ill at the time, although the jury unanimously decided he was not.

Consultant forensic psychiatrist, Dr Philip Joseph, interviewed McMullan in prison and asked him if he had not gone to police for a fourth time because it seemed a "waste of time". McMullan told him: "That's a good point."

Asked if he had carried out the killing to show how "serious" the voices were, McMullan said: "I could have."

McMullan has never expressed remorse and is said to be settled in jail.