TWO prisons that held murderer Anthony Rice were unaware that he was a convicted child sex offender, an inquest heard.

Neither Grendon and Leyhill Open prison knew that Rice had a conviction for a serious sexual assault on a five year old girl in 1975.

The lack of complete records emerged on the fourth day of the inquest into the death of Naomi Bryant.

Rice stabbed and strangled Miss Bryant, 40, at her home in Rowlings Road, Weeke, Winchester in August 2005. He was jailed for life in 2006.

David Durrant, the then-head of lifers at Leyhill, said Rice was at the open prison near Bristol between 2002 and 2004.

He told the inquest that there were problems with Mappa, multi-agency public protection arrangements, the framework set up to manage violent offenders. It should involve the police, probation, prison service and other agencies.

Mr Durrant said: “We had a mixed response from Mappa. Some engaged with us. Some, it was a real struggle. Some we didn’t know were taking place. It was inconsistent from our perspective.”

He said since the murder there was better monitoring of potentially high-risk offenders such as Rice.

The inquest heard that a female member of staff, who Rice was accused of harassing, had complained about him after he saw her getting out of her car at her home. He was returning to the jail from his job of working in a laundry.

Principal Officer Ken Calvert said he did not consider it a serious breach.

Mr Calvert said he did not disagree when a review board said Rice was ready to be released from Leyhill in 2004. “Rice had moved on since that time. There was no current intelligence to suggest he was up to nefarious activities.”

In 2004 Rice moved to the Elderfield hostel in Otterbourne near Winchester. About nine months later he met Miss Bryant. She was dead a few days later.

The inquest, before a six-men and four women jury, is due to resume tomorrow, Monday, February 7.

See this week's Hampshire Chronicle for continuing coverage of the inquest which is set to last around six weeks.