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

George Leigers was released into the community only seven years after he killed his wife in 1986.

He was remanded in St Luke's Hospital, Middlesbrough, under the Mental Health Act and, in 1993, was conditionally discharged into the community.

A decision was taken in March 2003 that Leigers no longer required psychiatric aftercare - after he complied with treatments and appointments.

Only five months later, he murdered Sarah-Jane Coughlan at his home in Middlesbrough.

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

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

The report said Leigers, who was 47 at the time, was not suffering from a mental disorder when he murdered the 19-year-old.

But the independent panel, chaired by Anne Galbraith, a former senior lecturer in law, could not find a motive.

It did, however, recognise the care of Leigers and the mental health system could have been more thorough.

A number of recommendations have been made and changes will now be drawn up and implemented in the coming months.

Ms Galbraith said: "Although George Leigers had previously experienced mental illness, there is nothing to suggest that this illness had relapsed at the time of the killing.

"The panel came to the same view as the court -that mental disorder was not the cause of the killing.

"There was no obvious need for services, and the discharge was entirely appropriate given that he had been followed up as an outpatient for ten years, four years of which was as a voluntary patient."

The report said: "While the panel has made criticisms in the body of this report that could contain lessons for the future, we cannot be certain that different management of his case would have resulted in a different outcome."

Criticisms included the lack of risk assessment of the impact of Leigers forming new relationships and the lack of a systematic review of his medication.

The panel also recommended consideration be given to whether patients nationwide who have committed serious offences and received restriction orders should remain under supervision for the rest of their lives.

The Court of Appeal, in London, last year ruled that Leigers, who is in a secure hospital, must serve a minimum of 21 years before he is eligible for parole.