A KILLER labelled one of Britain's most dangerous men tried to cut off a friend's head with an axe in a fit of mistaken jealous rage.

Gary Taylor wrongly believed Colin Johnson was having an affair with his girlfriend.

Newcastle Crown Court was told how Taylor, who had known his victim since primary school, had tried to hack off Mr Johnson's head because of his deluded mental state, brought on by paranoid schizophrenia.

Last night, Mr Johnson's fiancee, who found his body lying a pool of blood, called for action after it was revealed how cries for help by the killer's family went unheeded.

Taylor, 38, of the Royalty, Sunderland, had bought an axe the week before the attack.

He caught a bus to Mr Johnson's home and attacked him as he sat in his armchair.

Father-of-two Mr Johnson, 40, of Pickering Road, Pennywell, Sunderland, had 22 injuries to his neck and head.

The axe had cut his larynx and severed his spinal cord.

Forensic psychiatrist Adrian Brown, who is now treating Taylor at the top security Rampton Hospital, said he had rarely come across a patient as psychotically disturbed.

Taylor was originally charged with murder but prosecutors accepted his plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility because of his mental state at the time of the killing.

Toby Hedworth, prosecuting, told the court: "Photographs of Mr Johnson's body suggest that the attack was so ferocious that the purpose was actually to chop his head off.

"He had carefully planned his attack (because) he appears to have had a deluded grievance against Mr Johnson."

Police were originally baffled by the killing of a man who the court heard was liked in the community and loved by his family and friends.

But when a group of children found a carrier bag containing the murder weapon and Taylor's blood-soaked clothes, the evidence pointed directly to him.

Taylor, who has previous convictions for violence, says he has no memory of the killing.

David Robson QC, for Taylor, told the court how, in the months leading up to the killing, his client's family had grown increasingly alarmed at his bizarre behaviour.

He thought an assassin was out to kill him and became convinced his partner was having an affair with his friends, including Mr Johnson.

Mr Robson said Taylor's family made repeated attempts to have him assessed and treated for his mental illness as they feared he may be a danger.

Taylor's brother even went to the extent of stabbing himself and blaming his brother in the hope he would be assessed and hospitalised.

Judge David Hodson ordered Taylor to be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.

The judge said he accepted Taylor's family had sought help from professionals but added: "Sadly and tragically their cries for help fell on deaf ears."

Mr Johnson's family and his fiancee, Shirley Cooper, said in a statement: "We really feel there should be some kind of legislation to stop people like Taylor being let out to do things like this.

"Lots of warning signs were ignored and someone should be held to account."

A spokeswoman for the South of Tyne and Wearside Mental Health Trust said there had been an internal investigation into Taylor's case but another inquiry could be held if it was called for.

"The matter will be considered for an independent inquiry in accordance with National Health Service practice," she said