Jail bungle on Brit axe killer revealed

A suspected double killer soon to be released from behind bars has already walked free from jail once before after issuing death threats to one of the victims, it has emerged.Briton John Sweeney, 54, is wanted by cops in two countries as prime suspect over the brutal deaths of prostitute Paula Fields, 31, and model Melissa Halstead, 33.He is currently serving four life sentences for slashing an ex-lover with an axe and firearms offences. But police in Britain and the Netherlands have launched a new appeal for evidence on the murders after revealing he could get parole next year.Austrian investigators have revealed today (Fri) that Sweeney, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, has already walked free from prison on earlier charges connected with model Melissa.Sweeney was jailed for six months in the 1990 for threatening to kill Halstead, who he was then dating. Had prosecutors pursued more serious charges then both victims might still be alive today, say local legal experts.Halstead fled to Dutch port city Rotterdam where her body was found in a canal following Sweeney’s release. Prostitute Paula’s headless, dismembered body was found in Regent’s Canal, London, in 2001.