AN INQUEST on a man who was stabbed so furiously he was left with broken ribs found there were ‘missed opportunities’ to prevent his murder.

John Gogarty died after being stabbed 69 times at his home in Wombwell in July 2015.

The 65-year-old was discovered by his son, John Jnr, four days after he was attacked by Ian Birley and Helen Nichols.

An inquest at Sheffield Medico-Legal Centre on Friday concluded there were ‘missed opportunities which would have probably prevented Mr Gogarty’s life being lost’.

Senior coroner Chris Dorries said that Birley, who had been released from prison on life licence in December 2013 after serving 18 years for murder, had breached his licence conditions numerous times in 2014 and was given many warnings, but he was not recalled to prison.

Mr Dorries added that when Birley struck up a relationship with Nichols, the information that Nichols had a significant history of drug abuse was not made apparent to the mental health trust assisting her, which was ‘a lost opportunity for meaningful communication’.

The couple killed Mr Gogarty in 2015 to steal £500 in order to settle a drug debt.

Birley had been released from prison 18 months before murdering Mr Gogarty and had breached his licence conditions in a ‘matter of weeks’, with more serious breaches taking place in May 2014.

The May 2014 breaches related to two positive tests for methadone, refusing to provide urine samples and failure to attend a drug agency - which led to a final warning being issued.

This final warning, Mr Dorries said, gave ‘an inappropriate message to the offender’. He also added that these circumstances led to Mr Gogarty’s death.

“Looking at all the circumstances, I take the view that the events of May 2014 as a whole amounted to a missed opportunity to safeguard against a deterioration into the further offending which led to Mr Gogarty’s death,” said Mr Dorries.

“Returning offender one (Birley) into custody would not have been an absolute guarantee against the harm that eventually befell Mr Gogarty.

“It is possible that the offender would have been paroled again and that, sooner or later, he would have considered an attack upon Mr Gogarty as a source of funding for any drug debt he accrued.

“But I consider it plain at least that Mr Gogarty would not have died when he did if offender one had been recalled to prison in 2014.”

In 2015, Birley was jailed for life, with a whole life tariff - becoming one of only a handful of prisoners who have no chance of release.

Nichols was also jailed for life, with a minimum of 20 years before she is eligible for parole.

The pair were also given concurrent sentences for robbery - Birley 16 years and Nichols 12 years.

On finding the pair guilty, the jury was told that Birley had already served 17 years for the murder of Maurice Hoyle in Barnsley in 1995.

Mr Dorries described Mr Gogarty as a ‘family man’ and a ‘quiet sort of person’ who regularly visited his relatives in Ireland every fortnight or so.

“I do not doubt that he was a huge loss to his family,” said Mr Dorries.

“I am grateful to the family for their patience and courtesy during the period of more than three years before the inquest, which must have been a distressing time for them.”