The murder of a woman by her husband was not ‘predictable or preventable’, an independent investigation has concluded.

Retired GP Amad Jumaily was found guilty of murdering his wife June in their Field Lane home in Letchworth GC in December 2009, after she left him for another man.

Mrs Jumaily, 46, was stabbed 20 times in an attack described as frenzied and witnessed by her 18-year-old daughter, Ria, who made a 999 call before locking her step-father in a downstairs room and waiting for the police to arrive.

At the time, Dr Jumaily told the jury at Luton Crown Court he had lost all control. He described his wife as “my lifeline, the love of my life”, and said he had repeatedly contemplated suicide in the weeks after she left him.

Judge Richard Foster sentenced him to a minimum of 16 years in December 2010.

In an independent investigation by the NHS, which refers to Jumaily as X and his wife Y, said: “Mr X was a 59-year-old man who had been referred urgently by a locum GP to the community mental health team (CMHT) in Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust on 15th December 2009, nine days before he murdered his estranged wife, Y, at their home.

“The referral from the GP to the CMHT stated that Mr X suffered from intermittent depression but that this had worsened in the previous six weeks due to the breakdown of his marriage and splitting up with his wife. Mr X was seen and assessed by a community psychiatric nurse and a social worker on 17th December 2009 and by a consultant psychiatrist on 22nd December 2009.”

The following day he killed his wife. He was arrested and, after an assessment, was transferred to a medium secure unit.

The report said that Jumaily had a ‘complex history’. He was born and brought up in Baghdad. His father and two brothers were believed to have been killed by the Saddam Hussein regime. His mother, who died in 2009, had a history of depression.

It said: “Additionally he had mental health problems that led to him having to leave his job as a doctor, serious physical health problems and some marital difficulties that led to the depressive episode at the end of 2009. The evidence suggests Mr X may have experienced severe psychotic symptoms and thoughts on occasions, but was able to withhold these from professionals during assessments.

“It has been difficult for the independent investigation team to gain a full picture of the service user’s mental health history as the private psychiatrist who saw Mr X on an ongoing basis in 2001 and 2002 did not wish to talk to the independent investigation team.”

The independent investigation team, having reviewed the GP records provided, said Jumaily might have benefited from earlier referral to secondary mental health care services, in 2001/2002.

However, the actions of the locum GP who assessed Jumaily in December 2009 and made an urgent referral were commended.

The report concluded: “It is the conclusion of the independent investigation team that the tragic murder of Y was not predictable or preventable by services.

“It has to be acknowledged that Mr X’s presumed reluctance to disclose his psychotic symptoms, albeit understandable, did make it difficult for the CMHT, and possibly also the GP, to fully understand the extent of his difficulties.”