The reports make several recommendations

Tammy Little, 36, was strangled at her home in Hayle Towans in 2000 by Errol Leong, 38, who has chronic paranoid schizophrenia.

The independent panel said there were a number of problems in his care and treatment.

In an unrelated incident, the panel also found shortcomings in the case of a depressed man Brian Trethewey who stabbed his wife Carol to death in St Austell three years ago.

The system seems to have let us down Ron Little, Tammy Little's father

The deaths of Tammy Little and Carol Trethewey were completely unrelated - but the treatment of their partners involved the Cornwall Partnership Trust, mental health teams and the former Cornwall Health Authority.

The former health authority and the new South West Strategic Health Authority commissioned the independent inquiry, which published two reports - one for each incident.

In the case of Tammy Little, the inquiry criticised the care of her estranged partner Errol Leong, who had been a patient of the Cornwall Healthcare Trust for 18 months.

It has also criticised the management of the trust and found that Ms Little's death could have been prevented had assessments been carried out to a proper standard.

In the case of Carol Trethewey, the inquiry panel found that her death at the hands of her husband Brian could not have been predicted.

It said his care was reasonable, but did make four recommendations relating to better communication and the training of health professionals.

The recommendations include calls for more independent scrutiny in future, better auditing of clients' records and a review of clinical and professional supervision.

Both Errol Leong and Brian Trethewey admitted the manslaughter of their partners on the grounds of diminished responsibility in separate court cases.

Steps taken

The father of Tammy Little, Ron Little, said he is pleased with the findings of the report.

He said: "I think they were very fair.

"Without putting the blame on any person, the system seems to have let us down. But I hope all the points made are used."

The South West Peninsula Health Authority has accepted the report's findings.

Its director of strategic partnership, Anthony Farnsworth, said measures have been introduced to the treatment of mental health since these two cases.

He said: "The very nature of mental health care is that there are risks contained within it.

"Steps have already been taken to improve a number of these shortcomings.

"The integration of services with social services, which was a key issue in the recommendations, that is going ahead.