A KILLER told doctors about his violent thoughts only days before he beat a disabled man to death.

Keith Jones said his victim, Robert Carter, would still be alive if mental health authorities in the region had admitted him for psychiatric care.

And in a letter from HMP Holme House, in Stockton, Teesside sent last month to Mr Carter's son, Jonathan, he included a medical report written by a Dr Chakrabarti.

Jones wrote: "I feel that if Dr Chakrabarti took me more seriously and admitted me on to a ward that night, then your father's killing would not have happened 11 days later.

"Therefore your father's death is a direct result of negligence by the mental health authorities."

Homeless Jones moved into 63-year-old Mr Carter's home as a lodger in Sandmoor Road, New Marske, east Cleveland, on January 4, the day he killed his landlord.

The 33-year-old father-of- five is standing trial at Teesside Crown Court for murder, which he denies, but he admits manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The court heard yesterday that Jones was referred to St Luke's Hospital in Middlesbrough for assessment on Christmas Eve last year because he was depressed.

He told doctors he was an angry man and when he was unhappy he felt like assaulting people. He confessed there were more than 100 incidents of him being violent to members of the public.

Jones also told psychiatrists he led a very violent life, had once made his own weapon and also carried a Samurai sword.

But doctors said Jones appeared calm and did not display any signs of wanting to harm others or himself.

It was also revealed Jones had been treated at the hospital in 1985, when he was a teenager, and again in 1994 when he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

The doctors concluded that Jones did not need to be admitted to St Luke's Hospital for treatment.

Just over a week later he killed Mr Carter, known as Jack, with a table leg and the victim's walking crutch after they were introduced by Jones's mother Thelma, who had been an occasional care worker for the multiple sclerosis sufferer.

She had earlier told the court she did not tell Mr Carter about her son's violent past because he appeared to be free of drinks, drugs and aggression at the time.

The trial continues.