A solicitor has told of how there were "a number of missed opportunities" in the care and supervision of a young Belfast man who went on to murder a Syrian refugee.
Callin Wilson (20) was sentenced in March to at least nine years in prison for the murder of Hazem Ahmed Ghreir (30), who had settled in Northern Ireland to begin a new life after feeling war-torn Syria in 2015 with his brother.
On the evening of June 4, 2017, Mr Ghreir, who worked as a fast food delivery driver, saw Wilson attempting to steal a bike at Downshire Place, in the Dublin Road area and intervened.
Mr Ghreir, who had settled in Carrickfergus, died when Wilson stabbed him in the heart.
Two months on from his sentencing, Wilson's solicitor, Brian Archer has claimed there were "a number of missed opportunities" in the care and supervision of his client.
Speaking to BBC NI's Talkback programme, Mr Archer described his client as a "complex case".
Initially brought up in Germany, he revealed Wilson had killed a budgerigar while a child. He later killed another budgerigar and a goldfish and had also set fire to a bin outside his mother's home.
Following a move to Scotland and later to Northern Ireland, Wilson attended Loughshore school for children with behavioural disorders in north Belfast.
Mr Archer revealed his client had, at one stage, held a wire flex around a female teacher's neck and on another occasion had pulled a knife on a teacher during a home economics class.
On leaving school at 16 and the family home at 18 to live in hostels, Wilson was receiving no support from any service.
Mr Archer said his client was "never before the courts" before he was charged with Mr Ghreir's murder.
"The agencies involved with courts like probation, that deal with these issues, weren't involved with him," he said.
"Maybe if the education authorities or the trust had decided to involve probation or the Youth Justice Agency, the work could have started with Callin.
"There were a number of missed opportunities for intervention in Callin's case, he tried to access the school's computer, there were incidents in relation to inappropriate behaviour in the classroom.
Mr Archer added: "We don't have resources in Northern Ireland to deal with someone like Callin. There's no help in Northern Ireland to treat Callin as an inpatient He needed intensive work. He needed multi-agency work".
The solicitor said his client went from full supervision in school to having freedom he wasn't "used to".
"The tragedy is, this work will begin now with Callin. This man lost his life and Callin is facing a life sentence.
"There needs to be more resources put in for mental health services. We need to have a health minister to take control of the lack of provision for mental health services in Northern Ireland".
