THE jury in the Nicola Sutton inquest has said the state is to blame for her death.

Police and the probation service have apologised to the family for their failings. The verdict of the 10 members of the jury was unlawful killing as a result of multiple stab wounds.

They found she died on September 26 2006 in Gorse Covert.

They blamed a lack of clarity of actions from a MAPPA meeting, the omission of the prison service at a MAPPA meeting discussing licence conditions prior to Barry Stone's release and flagged up that the killer was still involved in drug activity while in prison.

Also slammed were the inadequate licence conditions to protect Nicola on Stone's release from jail and the impractical supervision provisions.

The probation service was condemned for allowing Stone back into Warrington and the evident lack of joint working between police and probation was also slated.

They said Nicola shouldn't have got back in touch with Stone after his release but added 'we believe Barry Stone may have had a strong hold over her due to the threat to her and her mum'.

They also criticised the way Stone was allowed to plead to a lesser charged before he was jailed in the months leading up to Nicola's murder.

In conclusion: "The jury feel this is a series of misjudgements in practice, customs and guidelines from all concerned agencies."

Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said he was going to write to all the agencies involved.