Fury over pounds 30,000 payment to killer

John Bowis, the Health minister, is to investigate the case of a schizophrenic man who was paid pounds 30,000 compensation after stabbing a stranger to death.

David Hoare walked up to Dianne Moore, 35, in a Leicester street and plunged a kitchen knife into her chest so hard that the blade snapped.

In July Hoare was paid a reported pounds 30,000 in compensation in an out-of- court settlement when he sued Leicestershire Health Authority, claiming that he should never have been released into the community.

Keith Vaz, the Leicester East MP, will meet Mr Bowis on Monday to discuss a possible reversal of the payment and a change in the law. He said: "This represents a very important test case and I will press for a public inquiry."

In 1990 Hoare was detained indefinitely at Rampton secure hospital after admitting the manslaughter of Ms Moore on the grounds of diminished responsibility. At his trial at Leicester Crown Court it was said that only a week before the killing, Hoare was discharged from Leicester General Hospital, where he was receiving psychiatric treatment. Hoare, who had assaulted a patient at the hospital, told doctors before he was released that he was a danger to women.