Churchgoers not told of release of 'samurai' attacker

The victims of a man who ran amok with a samurai sword in a church three years ago should have been told about his release, a leading mental health charity has said.

News that Eden Strang, 29, who was locked up indefinitely after the attack in 1999, had been released less than three years later emerged yesterday. It has been greeted with "shock and disbelief" by the church congregation. The police also attacked the decision.

Strang, who suffers from schizophrenia, was released from a secure mental institution in March and has been living in a hostel near Thornton Heath, south London, where the attack took place. He injured 11 worshippers, including a nun, with a 3ft sword during a service at St Andrew's Church. He later told psychiatrists that God had ordered him to kill the congregation to save his wife, Michelle, and five-year-old daughter, Olivia, from eternal damnation.

Strang was sentenced to indefinite detention after being found not guilty through insanity of attempted murder in June 2000.

Margaret Edwards, head of strategy at the mental health charity Sane, said: "Although this case shows how someone with schizophrenia can be successfully treated, what is concerning is that the victims were not consulted before Eden Strang was released into the community. We hope the proposal announced this week to give victims a right to information will be enacted."

The chief executive of Sane, Marjorie Wallace, defended the decision to release Strang.

"The public has nothing to fear," she said. "Eden Strang was obviously extremely tormented and disturbed at the time of the attack and shouldn't be doubly punished by having this illness and being detained indefinitely. It is safe for him to be released if his condition is stabilised and he is supervised by skilled staff."

John O'Toole, the parish priest at St Andrew's, said there was "disbelief, surprise and shock" among the community over the release. But he added: "There is also a feeling that if he is responding well to treatment we have to go with the medical advice."

The police say they were neither consulted nor informed before Strang's release, which was attacked by Inspector Glen Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan branch of the Police Federation. "It is utterly incredible that someone who was so disturbed can be allowed back into society so quickly," he said.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police added: "It is understood Strang had responded positively to treatment and was still under NHS care. Police family liaison officers are contacting victims of the attack to offer them reassurance and give them support."