AN inquiry is to be held into the care of a mental patient who killed his sister and her son.

Raymond Wills, 29, killed his 26-year-old sister, Caroline, and her five-year-old son, Ashley, in a knife attack at their home in Cramlington, Northumberland, last March.

A former neighbour, Tony Martin, 37, had voiced concern about Mr Wills in 1999, when they were living next door to each other in North Shields, North Tyneside.

Nine months later, Mr Wills stabbed his sister 43 times and cut her throat. Ashley had 53 stab wounds.

In February, when a court ordered Mr Wills to be detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital, Mr Martin said: "He should have been hospitalised nine months before this happened.

"Then two innocent people wouldn't have died."

While Mr Wills had a history of mental illness, medical experts considered he was more at risk of harming himself than others.

A spokeswoman for Newcastle and North Tyneside Health Authority said that the independent inquiry would look into the care and treatment that was given to Mr Wills, who admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

"The inquiry is taking place under national guidelines relating to crimes committed by people who have been in receipt of mental health services," the spokeswoman said.

The outcome of the inquiry would be made public, she said.