Health chiefs likely to be cleared

‘Ripper’ Anthony Hardy

AN INQUIRY probing Anthony Hardy’s killing spree is to clear health chiefs of any responsibility, even though the notorious murderer was set free from a secure psychiatric unit, it was claimed this week.
In a criticism of the way the so-called ‘Camden Ripper’ case has been handled, lawyers said an independent review panel had failed to learn lessons from the three grisly murders in Camden Town in 2002.
And in a renewed plea for a full public inquiry into the killings, Betesh Fox, the legal firm representing relatives of the victims, called for a change in mental health law.
Lawyers from the firm have attended the behind-closed-doors inquiry held by the North Central London Health Authority, whose findings are due to be published within the next two months.
They say the panel’s final report will fail the families they represent.
Mark Clayton, one of the legal team, said: “It was quite clear from the discussions with the panel that they do not believe any responsibility for the murders will rest with the health authority.”
Sources close to the panel’s work have hinted previously that questioning has been pinned back to strict terms of reference but the law firm’s comments are the first on-record suggestion of how the inquiry has unfolded.
Hardy, 55, who is serving a life sentence for the murders, had a history of mental illness and was marked out as a danger to women.
But, despite stark warnings, he was released from St Luke’s Woodside Secure Unit in Muswell Hill, north London, just months before he killed vice girls Liz Valad, 29, and Brigitte MacClennan, 34, in his council flat on the College Place estate in Royal College Street.
Astonishingly, Hardy was ‘sectioned’ after the death of his first victim, 38-year-old Sally Rose White, 12 months before his arrest.
But, even though Ms White’s naked dead body was found locked up in Hardy’s flat, a murder investigation collapsed and a coroner said she had died of natural causes.
Mr Clayton said: “It was quite clear from the discussions with the panel that, despite a catalogue of errors by the health authority and other bodies which led to his release in the first instance and subsequently their failure to provide any proper care plan for him within the community, they did not believe that any responsibility for the murders will rest with the health authority.
“The Independent Review Panel has refused to be drawn on the failings of the police and Crown Prosecution Service in this case as it does not fall within their remit. Their scope is limited.”
Hardy’s killings remain the most shocking the area has seen. They were only uncovered when the dismembered limbs of Ms Valad and Ms MacClennan were found sawn up and dumped in black bags and left in bins.
Mr Clayton added: “The disturbing cases that are continually reported of persons being allowed out into the community as a result of the failings of the mental health system in this country highlight the absolute necessity for a public inquiry and should ultimately lead to a change in mental health law.”