ROBBER Neville Kitt claimed he went on a crime spree, which led to the death of his friend, because of the stress of being in prison for seven years.
Kitt served the term after he was deemed to pose a danger to the public and given an indeterminate sentence for stabbing two people with a screwdriver in 2005.
He had burst into a flat in Homethorpe Flats, Orchard Park, and stabbed one person in the lip and another in the eyebrow. He then charged towards police officers with a knife.
A court ruled he was a dangerous offender and gave him to the indeterminate sentence for public protection, meaning he could only be released when the Home Secretary deemed it safe.
Following an appeal by Kitt, the Court of Appeal overturned the sentenced releasing him in December 2012.
Judges replaced the sentence with a four-year term – meaning he should have been freed after two years.
Kitt and his family claimed he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his wrongful imprisonment, which led to him going on a crime spree with his friend Matthew Hutchinson. He is today beginning a 14-year prison sentence for killing Hutchinson in a motorbike crash as they tried to evade police after robbing Enid's News in Anlaby Road.
His barrister Richard Littler told Hull Crown Court: "When he was released into the community, he had no professional help to assist him. He tried to seek help and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"He obtained diazepam without a prescription to rid him of the anxiety and depression. He was not himself.
"The bizarre fashion he behaved in is to a large degree born out of the face he was in the community finding it very difficult to adjust. He was mixing with his old friends and people from the past.
"This may be a reason for the offending."
After the fatal crash, diazepam was found in Kitt's blood.
Members of Kitt's family wrote letters to the judge claiming the only reason he committed the robbery was because of the condition.
Posting on the Mail's Facebook page, Kitt's partner Zoe said: "He was left in jail for years longer than he should have been.
"No one is sorrier than Nev other than Matty's family about what happened that morning. It was a tragic accident.
"Nev is my children's father and they love him, as do I."
Judge Michael Mettyear, the Honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding, rejected their assertions.
He said: "These were committed because of your long-standing propensity for dishonesty, to ignore driving laws and to be violent.
"I have read letters from your family who are doing their best to find good in you and some excusable reasons for you going off the rails again.
"I sympathise with them, but I do not accept their diagnosis of what was the real cause of these terrible events."
Despite a report by the probation service again describing Kitt as a danger to the public, Judge Mettyear said he did not need to pass the extended sentence used for dangerous offenders.
He said: "I have considered it very carefully and, on balance, I have decided the sentence I propose to pass is substantial enough to do justice without passing the dangerousness provisions."
Kitt had also been charged with aggravated burglary, possessing a hammer in a public place, two shop thefts and a handbag theft, but the prosecution accepted his pleas of not guilty.
