Mother-of-three Emma Proctor died in hospital the day after the attack

Cardiff Crown Court heard unemployed Steven Price "ploughed into" William John Gibbings 37, Martin Connop, 31, and Emma Proctor, 25, "like skittles".

He has been ordered to remain in hospital indefinitely after admitting diminished responsibility manslaughter.

Ms Proctor's father, Reg, said: "He could be let out in ten years".

The victims were walking along a quiet road near Cwmbran in April this year when Price attacked.

The two men were pronounced dead on arrival at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport.

Reg Proctor said he fears Price could be released within ten years

Mother-of-three Ms Proctor died the next day at the University Hospital Wales in Cardiff.

Peter Murphy, prosecuting, told the court how Price was having delusions that Mr Connop had been trying to shoot him with an air rifle equipped with laser sights.

He said Price took his father's purple 4x4 Ford Maverick for a drive when he spotted the three walking along the road and accelerated towards them - hitting them at 48mph on a 30mph road at Pontnewydd, Cwmbran.

He said that after the crash, Price drove back to his father's home and calmly told him: "I'm very sorry I've had a slight bump."

Mr Murphy added that when Price's father went to investigate his son told him: "It was either him or me. He has been outside my house all week carrying a gun with laser sights."

The court was told that two months before the tragedy, Price, an unemployed engineer, had been referred to a psychiatrist by his GP - but he failed to keep the appointment.

Price had delusions and thought Mr Connop was trying to kill him

Price was later diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was suffering delusions.

Ms Proctor's father, Reg Proctor, has expressed concerns that because Price was not sentenced for murder, he may be released from custody when doctors have decided that he is better.

He said: "I don't think the sentence was right, really.

"He has been sent to Merseyside, to a mental institution, for a period of what time I don't know because it hasn't been said by the judge.

"So he could be let out in ten years if he is proven well enough, or it could be less.

My daughter has gone for good for no reason at all, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It has broken my heart."

'Classic case'

Jayne Zito, who is originally from Wales, founded the Zito Trust after her husband was killed by a paranoid schizophrenic. She said the Price case highlighted weaknesses in the system.

She said: "An indidividual who was rapidly deteriorating in the community was left extremely isolated and solely in the care of his family to assess whether he is a danger or not."

Marjorie Wallace, Chief Executive of the mental health charity Sane, said paranoid schizophrenia was a "very destructive illness of the mind" in which victims denied they were ill.

She said: "The families are left in a dreadful situation - the doctor says I can't treat a patient who doesn't come to me, so they back to the family and nobody does anything.

"That's a classic situation, it happens again and again.

"People should go out to those families and intervene before a tragedy occurs."

She said mental health teams - which are charged with protecting the community as well as the individual concerned - were undersourced.