Questions over killer Phillip Simelane's release before Christina Edkins attack
Investigations are under way into why Christina Edkins' killer was released from prison unsupervised before the horrific random attack.
It comes as the mental health trust which treated Phillip Simelane said there were 'lessons to be learned'.
The judge in the case has also questioned why the 23-year-old from Walsall was released without psychiatric treatment.
The paranoid schizophrenic stabbed the 16-year-old to death on the upper deck of a bus as she made her way to Leasowes High School in Halesowen in March.
Yesterday, Simelane, a Swaziland-born man who last lived with his mother in Walsall, pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to her manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
At the hearing, Mr Peter Grieves-Smith, prosecuting, said Simelane had been released from prison exactly 12 weeks before attacking the schoolgirl on March 7.
Passing a hospital order on Simelane, which will see him detained indefinitely, Mrs Justice Thirlwall said: "At the time you (Simelane) attacked Christina, you were suffering from a serious mental illness.
"Your mental function was wholly abnormal as a result of your mental illness. That is why you killed Christina.
"In your deluded state, you thought she was a danger to you.
"It is plain on evidence that your responsibility was diminished because you were suffering from paranoid schizophrenia."
She added: "Anyone who has sat here and listened to or read the many statements will be disturbed to read that you were living in the community with an illness of that severity."
The judge described how Simelane's mother had 'repeatedly' asked for help for her son. Then, when in prison for separate offences last year, he received some treatment for his mental illness, but this, the judge said, was 'limited'.
She said: "You had two spells in prison, the first of those you had some psychiatric treatment, but it was limited and when released in December you were released without any psychiatric treatment.
"It is difficult to understand how it came about that in someone with your level of illness should have been sleeping rough with no-one to look after you."
The judge added: "On at least two occasions an experienced specialist registrar in psychiatry insisted you needed in-patient treatment.
"It was not made available to you."
Following the hearing, bosses at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, which assessed Simelane in prison last year, vowed to carry out a 'through investigation'. It will publish its findings in December.
The statement read: "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Christina's family for what was an unprovoked attack on an innocent member of the public.
"Phillip Simelane had previously been in receipt of care from a number of healthcare providers over a period of years.
"Our trust's involvement was in the form of prison-based mental health assessments during a prison term for an unrelated offence in 2012.
"What is clear is that there are lessons to be learned for us and others involved in the care of Phillip Simelane to prevent such a tragedy happening again in the future."
The review will be commissioned by Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Group, on behalf of all the parties involved.
The statement addeed: "We would not want to speculate on the outcome of this review, but we are clear that this will be an externally reviewed, thorough investigation, and we will seek to learn from and fully implement these findings across the healthcare providers involved." Reviews are also to be carried out by West Midlands Police and the prison service.
A spokesman for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), which is part of the Ministry of Justice, said: "NOMS and HMP Birmingham will support the local NHS trust in its review of this tragic case."
Christina's great-uncle Chris Melia said: "I would like to know what eventually comes out of any investigation, and most importantly what might be done to prevent a reoccurrence."
Simelane, who had been homeless since his release, had been in prison for breach of licence with regard to vehicle interference and cocaine possession.
He had a total of seven previous convictions and had previously served a prison sentence for threatening his own mother.
See also:
Christina Edkins bus killer admits manslaughter
Mother lived in fear of Walsall son who killed Christina Edkins
Christina Edkins' killer threatened his own mother with knife
Routine bus ride turned to terror for tragic Christina Edkins
