Murderer Tries To Block Health Report In UK

The man who was convicted of murdering Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter, Megan is trying to block the publication of a report that probes the failure of health authorities before he embarked on a killing spree.

The independent report by Robert Francis QC has been kept under wraps ever since it was published six years ago after many appeals and retrial in the case. But Mrs Russell's daughter, Josie and her father, Shaun wants the report to be made public so that similar attacks can be prevented in future. Stone's sister says that her brother was let down by the mental health services. But the Kent health authority says that Stone was bad not mad. Peter Edwards, Stone's solicitor, said: "He objects to certain parts of the information being published, on grounds of respect for his private life. This is about encouraging people to be open with inquiry teams. He cooperated with the inquiry, I believe." In February, Mr Justice Collins had ruled, "It seems to me that the issue of the extent to which confidential medical details can be disclosed to the public is important and clarification is needed, if only to ensure that in the future those whose cooperation is essential will not be deterred from giving that cooperation." The department of health also wants to know how the events happened, "We think it is in the public interest to understand how these events came about," a spokesman said.