A DOUBLE killer who was mentally ill when he battered his wife to death was of sound mind when he murdered a young woman, an inquiry has found.

Disturbed George Leigers was released into the community just seven years after killing his wife Rita in 1986.

He then stabbed Sarah Jane Coughlan to death at his home in Middlesbrough with a bayonet in August 2003.

An independent inquiry, commissioned after the second offence by County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority, published its findings today.

They ruled that there was "nothing to indicate a second killing was imminent".

The report states that Leigers was not suffering from a mental disorder when he murdered the 19-year-old, who had turned to prostitution to fund a drug habit.