A suspected murderer, who is thought to have killed again while on bail, was released from custody following a "very borderline decision" by the judge, it was revealed today.

Court transcripts show that Garry Weddell, a senior police officer accused of murdering his wife and faking her suicide, was given bail, despite serious misgivings by Judge John Bevan QC.

Police believe he then shot dead his mother-in-law at her home in Hertfordshire, before committing suicide at a local shooting club.

The judge told him at the time: “It is a very borderline decision that I have granted you bail at all, and you understand that if you breach any of these conditions, then you will be straight back into custody.”

However, Weddell – described in court as "essentially an industrious, conscientious family man...of good character” – was released again, despite breaching one of the conditions.

Granting bail, the judge said: “I have wrestled with the problem with bail in this case, not only today in my mind, but on previous occasions.

"I do not find it by any means an easy decision, balancing the gravity of the case on the one hand with the fact that the defendant is undoubtedly a professional man with strong roots in relation to his children and financial position."

He noted that the prosecution had a “circumstantial case of reasonable strength”, but also that Weddell was “undoubtedly a professional man with strong roots”.

The case prompted an outcry over the fact that a suspect was released while awaiting trial for such a serious offence.

When asked earlier this month why he granted bail to Weddell, Judge Bevan said that he could not remember the circumstances of the application.

However, the transcripts of five court hearings, released today by the Judicial Communications Office, will jog his memory.

They reveal that Weddell had twice been refused bail before being released on July 27 after his barrister brother put up a £200,000 bond.

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