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An investigation has been launched into the circumstances that allowed a man to be released from custody, only to kill a passenger on a bus a few hours later - despite an outstanding warrant for his arrest.Richard Whelan, 28, was stabbed seven times in the heart and torso after remonstrating with Anthony Joseph, 23, who was throwing chips at his girlfriend on a London bus in July 2005.Joseph today pleaded guilty to his manslaughter due to diminished responsibility, having argued that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attack.It emerged today that Joseph had been mistakenly released from a young offenders' institution in Manchester only hours before the attack, after charges of abduction and unlawful sex with a 15-year-old were dropped. Because of a separate arrest warrant, issued after Joseph failed to attend court in Liverpool four weeks before the killing on charges of burglary, he should have been retained in custody, but was instead released in error from Forest Bank young offenders' institution.

Eight hours after his release, at around 10pm on the evening of July 29, he killed Mr Whelan in what was described today by Detective Chief Inspector John Macdonald, who led the investigation, as a "horrendous" attack.A government spokeswoman said ministers from the Ministry of Justice and Home Office, along with the solicitor general, had written to "chief inspectors of the crown prosecution service, court administration, constabulary and prisons to gain a full understanding of what happened in June and July 2005 and to make sure any mistakes that may have occurred do not happen again".Merseyside police said today the force had followed the correct guidelines and circulated Joseph's details on the national police computer as soon he failed to appear in court.

Joseph's admission of manslaughter came after a second jury failed to reach a verdict on a charge of murder. But speaking outside the court, Mr Whelan's family said they did not accept that Joseph was mentally ill at the time of the killing."We feel the defence of diminished responsibility has been used as a defence for the undefendable, with so much evidence showing that Anthony Joseph was an angry and vindictive man," the dead man's sister Theresa Ward said."He has tried to excuse his actions by claiming mental illness. In our opinion, he callously killed Richard for no reason at all."Joseph has been remanded to a secure hospital to await sentencing, pending psychiatric reports.Ms Ward described her brother, an events manager originally from Gortahork in Co. Donegal, as "a very private, quiet man brought up with high values [who] treated people with respect.

"Our lives are changed forever. We miss Richard every day, his gentleness, his kindness and his love, and we will always miss him in a way that is so painful we cannot put it into words."Earlier, Mr Whelan's girlfriend, Kerry Barker, had told the court that they had been travelling home on the upper deck of a No 43 bus between Islington and Archway in north London when they noticed Joseph, seated behind them, throwing chips at another woman, who moved to the lower deck.After a chip hit Ms Barker on the back of the head, her partner looked around, at which point Joseph approached them, she said. Mr Whelan stood up and was attacked. "I remember trying to pull the man off Richard," she said. "I was ringing the bell. I was screaming: 'Leave him alone.'"Fellow passengers described hearing a thumping sound from the upper deck and Ms Barker screaming, "Get off him, get off him. Oh my God, what's he doing? Make him stop."

Jo Uttley, who was sitting on the lower deck, described hearing Ms Barker's screams before Joseph came down the bus stairs. "He just walked away down from the top deck with a gangster swagger as if it meant nothing to him," she told the court."Some said he was grinning. He looked around the bus and demanded to be let off. He seemed to be unconnected to what happened. He behaved so calmly."Mr Whelan staggered down the stairs where he removed his jacket and was heard to say: "Look, he stabbed me."He was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards.
For the defence, a psychiatrist, Professor Nigel Eastman, told the court Joseph was now being treated for paranoid schizophrenia at Broadmoor secure hospital and that he believed he had been suffering from the illness and the start of a personality disorder in July 2005.But Dr Paul Chesterman, a psychiatrist for the prosecution, had argued that Joseph made no complaint about his mental health until he was on remand at Belmarsh prison.