Homicidal Loony Alert

I was up in Stafford a couple of months back - drove past St George's hospital in fact. Think I'll skip the shops next time.

A psychiatric patient who slashed the throats of 15 women at a Birmingham department store has been released into the community to go shopping. David Morgan, 43, was given 10 life sentences after his rampage through the Rackhams store in 1994.

Morgan, who had a grudge against women, was told he might never be released. But he has recently been allowed into Stafford town centre for several hours unsupervised. His carers have said the trips are part of his rehabilitation.

It is understood that Morgan, originally from Aston, Birmingham, is being treated at a semi-secure unit at Stafford's St George's Hospital. South Staffordshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the unit, said its decision to release Morgan had been endorsed by the Home Office.

Not bad. 10 life sentences = 12 years.

The Soaraway Sun has more, including snaps of Morgan and a couple of his victims.

UPDATE - I wonder if Morgan's Rackham victims (including the girl on the Estee Lauder counter), the psychiatric nurse he slashed with a razor while awaiting sentence, and the women he attacked in 1992 and 1993 (a conditional discharge !) had anything in commmon ?

"In 1992 and 1993, Morgan was conditionally discharged after attacking women in the street, but the psychiatric services had no further contact with him until September 1994 when he visited his GP, complaining of difficulty obtaining benefits."