THE family of a murdered man said last night the killer was not the only person with blood on his hands.

Relatives of Robert "Jack" Carter are to start civil proceedings after Keith Jones was jailed for life for murder - having been deemed a high risk to the public two years earlier.

Jones, 33, an alcoholic, visited the multiple sclerosis sufferer's house in January to rent a room but instead beat him to death with a table leg.

He admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but was found guilty of murder.

After Jones was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court yesterday, Mr Carter's son Jonathan, 34, of Saltburn, east Cleveland, said: "A lot of questions remain unanswered. It is evident Keith Jones was not the only party with blood on his hands."

Jones, who has an anti-social personality disorder, was identified as a serious risk to the public by police, social services and probation workers in April 2003.

Only months later, he tried to attack his friend Darren Cooper with a samurai sword.

Jones had 33 convictions, which covered 128 offences.

The father-of-five's mother, Thelma Jones, a council worker, broke her code of conduct to pass on Mr Carter's telephone number - which should have been kept confidential. She has since resigned.

Mr Carter, 62, who lived alone in New Marske, east Cleveland, suffered a fractured skull and jaw, leaving his face almost unrecognisable. He had bruising on his body, broken ribs and defensive wounds. He was attacked in his wheelchair before he was beaten with a crutch and dragged to a downstairs toilet where he was further attacked with a leg from a table.

Jones later went out drinking in a T-shirt spattered with blood, and invited three people to Mr Carter's house, where his victim lay dead.

Jones was ordered to serve at least 13-and-a-half years -and the judge said there was a heavy burden on any parole board to keep the public safe.