NHS 'sitting on' damning report into cannibal blunders

LONDON NHS chiefs were today criticised for withholding a damning report into the care of killer Peter Bryan, who cannibalised one of his victims.

Bryan was jailed for "the rest of his natural life" in 2005 after admitting killing two men while receiving treatment for schizophrenia. The mental patient was on release from Newham Centre for Mental Health when he ate the brains of friend Brian Cherry.

He went on to kill fellow patient Richard Loudwell in Broadmoor after being remanded there in 2004.

The independent investigation into blunders by staff at East London and City Mental Health Trust was to be released today. But the inquiry report will not be published until May because health bosses say they want to protect the relatives of victims. NHS London said it did not want the report to coincide with the anniversary of any of the killings.

But mental health campaigners called for it to be published immediately so that lessons could be learned. Charity Sane said delay would cause further distress to the victims' families. Chief executive Marjorie Wallace said: "We are surprised that what should be a transparent, public, independent inquiry should apparently be delayed for no given reason, raising concerns about how disturbing the findings may be."

The judge who jailed Bryan, now 39, described him as "uniquely dangerous". The mental patient from Forest Gate had spent time in a secure hospital after killing his first victim, 20-year-old shop assistant Nisha Sheth, in 1993.

But he was released in 2001 after applying to a mental health review tribunal. Bryan was allowed to live as a "care in the community" outpatient but was taken back onto a ward at Newham Centre for Mental Health.

It was there he was assessed by social worker Roland Silcott who wrote to the Home Office saying he was "no longer a danger". In February 2004, Bryan was told he could have as much leave as he wanted just hours before he went to Mr Cherry's flat and killed him.