A DAMNING report has revealed the killing of a schoolgirl could have been prevented and her violent attacker was likely to reoffend after being released from HMP Hewell.

Christina Edkins was the victim of a random stabbing as she travelled to school on the number nine bus in Edgbaston on March 7 2013.

She was killed with a single stab wound to the chest by paranoid schizophrenic Phillip Simelane shortly after he had been released from the Tardebigge prison.

But a report commissioned and published this week by NHS England concluded a series of opportunities to assess and treat Simelane had been missed that may have prevented Christina’s death.

It added that the risk of similar incidents in future remained.

The 145-page report set out 25 recommendations to Birmingham and Black Country health, prison and police authorities in a bid to prevent such tragedies in future.

This is the second inquiry into Christina’s death, following a report in 2014 which set out 50 recommendations for improvement in services.

The new report, by Niche Health & Social Care Consulting, said it agreed with the initial conclusions that Christina’s killing was not predictable and that authorities had largely acted on the 2014 recommendations.

But it said her death could have been prevented if Simelane had received the treatment he badly needed.

It said: “We fully endorse the initial investigation findings that the homicide of Christina was directly related to his mental illness and more likely that the homicide might have been prevented if his mental health needs had been identified and met.

“The largest concern shared by all on the investigation panel and many of the people we interviewed was that despite these efforts, the challenges to ensure appropriate after care on release for prisoners with mental health problems remain.

“If we were able to make just one recommendation to improve services and reduce the likelihood of such a tragic case happening again, it would be that the national services concerned strenuously work together to improve the care and after care of prisoners with mental health problems.”

Christina’s heartbroken family released a statement criticising the conclusion that her death was not predictable.

They said: “Christina's parents, brother and sister and her wider family continue to believe that failings within the NHS and Prison Service led directly to her death, which was both predictable and preventable."

"It is depressing for us to read that 'despite the high number of reports and inquiries into high profile homicides, many of the same issues that arose in those investigations are identified in this report'.

"What will change as a result of this report?”

In October 2013, Simelane admitted manslaughter and was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.