A man detained in England under the mental health act after attacking 11 churchgoers with a samurai sword less than three years ago, has been released, it emerged today.
Eden Strang ran amok naked attacking worshippers with the weapon attending a service at Thornton Heath, South London in November 1999.
He was released from a secure mental hospital and is now living in a hostel, 28 months after the attack.
Police liaison officers are now giving support to Strang's victims who were left with horrific injuries from the attack with a 3ft samurai sword.
A psychiatrist at his trial said of him, "You can't get much madder than this."
Schizophrenic Strang, 29, was locked up indefinitely after his Old Bailey trial. He was found not guilty through insanity of attempting to murder seven people.
Strang injured an elderly nun and 10 worshippers during the attack on St Andrew's Catholic Church in Thornton Heath, in November 1999.
Strang told psychiatrists God ordered him to slaughter the congregation to save his wife Michelle, 26, and five-year-old daughter Olivia from eternal damnation. He stripped naked to be "clean and pure", the court heard.
One victim, Paul Chilton, 51, needed 40 pints of blood after Strang attacked him with the sword.
The Sun newspaper claimed that police only knew Strang was free after he was spotted on the streets by chance.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said tonight, "We are not prepared to discuss whether we were informed.
PA