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The NHS trust that discharged the Nottingham killer despite his history of violence is being investigated for corporate manslaughter.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust sent Valdo Calocane, a paranoid schizophrenic, back into the community before he stabbed three people to death in June 2023.
Detectives from Northumbria Police will carry out the investigation because those from Nottinghamshire Police are implicated in failings, The Times reported.
If prosecuted, it would be the first time a trust has been charged over alleged failings before a violent patient was released into the community.
Calocane, 34, fatally stabbed 19-year-old university students Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old school caretaker.
He also tried to kill three pedestrians, who suffered serious injuries, by mowing them down with a van.
He is serving an indefinite hospital order after prosecutors accepted his guilty pleas to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
The killer had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times before the attacks and often became violent when he refused to take his medication.
Despite this he was repeatedly released. He was then discharged by the trust in September 2022 because he was not engaging with treatment.
Trust bosses have reportedly been told to preserve all records relating to the attacks and have said they will co-operate with the investigation.
Organisations face an unlimited fine if found guilty of corporate manslaughter. NHS trusts have only twice been charged with the crime and were cleared on both occasions.
Between 2011 and 2024, there were 43 concluded corporate manslaughter prosecutions, 32 of which resulted in convictions. All of those prosecuted were small businesses or organisations.
Prosecutors must prove a failing was the direct cause of a death and senior staff cannot be held liable for mistakes made exclusively by junior staff.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust told The Times: “Northumbria Police, acting on behalf of Nottinghamshire Police, have begun an investigation into matters relating to the care and treatment of Valdo Calocane.
“We know how important the independent inquiry and police investigation are for the affected families, the survivors and our local communities.
“We will, of course, be co-operating fully with Northumbria Police, as we have with the Statutory Inquiry into these matters which is being chaired by Her Honour Deborah Taylor and which will hear final submissions from all the parties involved later this year.”
Josh Hughes, a partner and head of complex injury at law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp, said: “The wider ramifications for the delivery of mental health services in this country would be profound.
“Corporate manslaughter involves an exceptionally high threshold focused on systemic governance, rather than individual clinician fault.”
Northumbria Police was contacted for comment by the newspaper.
