A woman pleaded for her boyfriend to be taken into hospital the day before he stabbed her 57 times, an inquiry heard.

Joanne Gallacher, 33, was so concerned for James Kennedy, 37, that she contacted an NHS mental health unit to ask for help.

But no action was taken after senior charge nurse Paul Thomson said he could not ­discuss Kennedy’s treatment without his permission.

Kennedy knifed Ms Gallacher to death the next day in a frenzied attack at his home in Biggar, Lanarkshire, in December 2018.

A fatal accident inquiry at Hamilton Sheriff Court heard Mr Thomson, 49, had assessed Kennedy in June that year and deemed he was not ­psychotic or suicidal.

Joanne Gallacher, right, was killed in her home by James Kennedy, left, in a frenzied knife attack. 

The probe heard medical staff were later banned from attending Kennedy’s home after a visit found blood on his front door and an array of ­weapons including two knives, a claw hammer and an axe inside.

Giving evidence to the inquiry, NHS Lanarkshire employee Mr Thomson, said: ‘There was a phone call from Joanne Gallacher who said she had concerns about James Kennedy and she demanded that he be sectioned.

‘That wouldn’t be a decision that could be taken by us but the last time we had seen him it wasn’t felt there was a need to do that and get a consultant to do it because he wasn’t psychotic or suicidal so there wasn’t that requirement.’

He added: ‘I had no consent to share any information from James Kennedy. If he had been there I could have spoken to him and if he had given consent then I could have shared information.’

Describing the decision to ban NHS staff from visiting Kennedy at home, Mr Thomson added: ‘We would see him in the health centre, just not in the home environment due to the risk of violence and weapons inside the home.’

Mr Thomson told the probe he was shocked on hearing Kennedy had killed Ms Gallacher.

He said: ‘I was surprised by that because the interaction I had with him previously, I thought he was more of a risk to himself or staff because he was very derogatory about health staff.

‘He was OK in June with us but there were other notes that he had been a bit derogatory to staff which was highlighted in the phone call I had with Joanne in December. I had not seen him for six months by this point.’

Carstairs State Hospital in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, where James Kennedy is being held

The inquiry heard social workers had made home visits to Kennedy unaware that NHS staff had been banned from seeing him. A meeting between social workers, the NHS and police to discuss Kennedy had also taken place just days before he killed Ms Gallacher.

When asked if he had disclosed a risk of violence from Kennedy to Ms Gallacher in the phone call they had, Mr Thomson replied: ‘No. I was not aware of any risk to Joanne.’

The inquiry had earlier heard Kennedy believed Ms Gallacher was planning to harm him and that he was sleeping rough in woods in East Kilbride.

Ms Gallacher’s mother Louise, 62, told the probe they had made plans to go Christmas shopping but the next time she saw her daughter was in a morgue.

Kennedy is being held in the State Hospital at Carstairs after admitting culpable homicide due to diminished responsibility at the High Court in Glasgow in 2019.

The hearing before Sheriff Michael Higgins continues.