THEY KNEW EMMA WAS IN FEAR OF HER LIFE BUT LEFT DUFFY FREE TO KILL

Family say double murderer was too dangerous to be still at large | They claim young mum could have been saved by welfare checks

-  JOHN DINGWALL

A DOUBLE killer who murdered his girlfriend and brother while out on bail should never have been free, his victim's family have said.

Peter Duffy, 47, throttled and stabbed 26-year-old Emma Baillie before hiding her corpse under a pile of clothes on his couch.

The fiend was out on bail and under a court order not to approach Emma at the time after earlier being accused of bursting her nose and throwing her downstairs.

He then knifed his brother John Paul, 51, to stop him going to police about the killing and bludgeoned his pet cat with an axe.

Duffy denied the bloodbaths but he was jailed for life last week for the "wicked killings".

Now Emma's grief-stricken family are demanding to know why Duffy was allowed out on bail despite posing a threat to his girlfriend who had suffered previous attacks by him.

And they are furious no checks were made on young mum Emma's safety despite a bail order that Duffy should not approach her.

Emma's stepmum Carol Austin told the Record: "He was on three bail conditions. It's shocking.

"Dangerous people like him are being bailed and are allowed to commit horrific crimes.

"There's definitely something wrong with that element of the law.

"Even with that knowledge of the risk of him reoffending and being on other bail conditions, he was allowed out on bail.

"It's crazy that they knew how severe a risk he was yet he still got to walk free and as a result two people lost their lives.

"The sad fact is Emma's and his brother's death could have been avoided but there could have been more.

"It could have saved lives if he had been taken off the street after the severity of the domestic assault on Emma that was so severe it could have been an attempted murder charge.