Victim's family criticise killer's NHS care.

The family of a retired solicitor stabbed to death by a mentally ill man following a minor vehicle shunt has criticised the NHS for failings that left him free to kill.

Matthew Daley, 35, a paranoid schizophrenic, stabbed Donald Lock, 79, 39 times after their cars collided on the A24 near Worthing, West Sussex.

Relatives of Mr Lock, who had recently been given the all-clear from prostate cancer, said failings by the NHS Trust responsible for Daley's mental health care allowed him to kill.

Daley was cleared of murder at Lewes Crown Court but convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Mr Lock’s son Andrew said outside court: "As a consequence of the failings of the NHS and this verdict it is clear that dad would still be here today if they had done their job properly."

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has apologised to Daley's family, admitting its care of him "should have been better" but Mr Lock's family condemned the Trust for not apologising to them.

Andrew Lock added: "It is upsetting to hear that the NHS have taken the trouble to write to the Daley family to apologise for their failings, yet we have received nothing in writing."

Trust chief executive, Colm Donaghy, said: "Having reviewed his care, it's clear that we should have reviewed Mr Daley's diagnosis, looked at other ways of providing treatment, done more to help him manage his symptoms of psychosis and listened to his family more closely.

"We got things wrong. But I do not believe that any of our staff acted in a way which was deliberately negligent or designed to cause harm. They knew Mr Daley well and believed they were doing the right things to help him. We will do things differently as a result of this tragic incident."

Daley stabbed Mr Lock after his Toyota crashed into the back of Daley's Ford Fusion at about 16mph, causing minor damage.

The two-week trial heard University of Portsmouth architecture graduate Daley had suffered mental illness for 10 years, and his family had "pleaded" with experts to section him.

His mother Lynda Daley told jurors he was never given a proper diagnosis, that health professionals had not listened to them and that they often lived in a state of anxiety.

His father, John Daley, wrote letters predicting his son could harm someone. In one, he wrote: "I am worried that it will end up with a fatality unless Matthew gets help with his obsessional behaviour and the voices."