Today's Early Release Murderer

A sex offender who stabbed a schoolgirl to death was not monitored after leaving prison because he changed his name, according to a report.

Timothy Cuffy, 39, plied 13-year-old Sandy Hadfield with alcohol before taking her to a secluded park and cutting her throat with a Gurkha knife.

Cuffy had moved into the area a year before the killing in July 2002.

The independent report found he hid his criminal record from the authorities by using the surname Barnett.

The report looked into how the man came to be in Lincolnshire without any supervision after his early release from a six-year sentence for burglary and assault on a blind woman.

It followed a two-year investigation by the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board.

The report also found vital information about Cuffy was not shared between the Probation Service, the police and health authorities who all had contact with him prior to the killing.

A probe led by Lincolnshire County Council discovered Cuffy had been set free from prison only three years into a six-year sentence for indecently assaulting a deaf woman as she slept in her own bed - then leaving gas seeping from her oven.

The early release took place despite a string of previous convictions - which also included the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl.

If Cuffy, 38, had served his sentence in full, he would have been behind bars when he slit Sandy's throat after calmly leading her to her "execution" in July 2002.

And there'll be more soon - courtesy of the Probation Service.