Blind killer Anthony O'Connell is unlikely to return to York, the scene of his crime.

But he could be homeless and will face an uncertain future when he walks out of Armley Jail, Leeds, in the next few days.

Because of his disabilities, which include blindness, epilepsy, diabetes and a personality disorder, he has to have support from social services or some other body.

But between October 1999 and July 2000, a succession of hostels and residential homes across the North of England asked O'Connell to leave because of his behaviour.

The 36-year-old man has been on remand in the Leeds prison since July 22, 2000, because he refused to comply with a three-year probation order imposed for the manslaughter of Krystyna Walton.

On Monday, Mr Justice Harrison jailed him for 12 months - which means he will be freed automatically in the next few days.

On his release, he will be on licence to be supervised by the probation service, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Probation officers are currently trying to find him somewhere to live - and they told Mr Justice Harrison they were not hopeful of success before his release.

When they looked for somewhere for him to live while on probation, York was not an option and thisisyork understands York is not being considered now.

If the probation service is unsuccessful, O'Connell will become homeless. By law, all prisoners serving under four years must be released half-way through their sentence regardless of whether they have somewhere to go or not. Any time spent in jail on remand counts towards the sentence - and O'Connell has been inside for nearly six months.

Paul Worsley QC, his barrister, said in court on Monday that should the judge impose a sentence that released him on that day, his solicitors would take him to either York or Middlesbrough social services for staff there to find him a home as an officially homeless person.

Now his first steps of freedom will be in Leeds.

York social services supported O'Connell in his then home in Bouthwaite Drive, Acomb, before his arrest in September 1998, and one of the city's care workers found Mrs Walton's body when she made her regular visit to the bungalow.

Staff from the City of York Council have been in contact with the probation officer in charge of O'Connell's case during the last year.

Updated: 10:35 Wednesday, January 17, 2001