A CONVICTED murderer who was given a job at a North-East hospital is back behind bars, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Robert Bage was given a life sentence for stabbing to death 24-year-old Andrew Stanyer in a jealous rage in March 1991.

However, as exclusively revealed in The Northern Echo last month,  Bage  managed to land a job in a Durham hospital after he was released on licence without his employer knowing about his violent past.

The Northern Echo can reveal that  Bage has been recalled to jail - sparking renewed concern and a probation service row.

Although the Ministry of Justice refused to say why Bage was back behind bars, offenders are usually recalled if they commit another crime, may be about to commit a crime or break the conditions of their licence.

It is understood that he was sent back to prison in July.

Last night Alan Stanyer, the brother of Bage's victim, criticised the probation service for keeping him in the dark.

Mr Stanyer, who lives in Stoke, where the murder took place, was not informed Bage had been returned to prison and only learned of his hospital job by reading The Northern Echo’s website.

He said: “I’m disgusted we weren’t told – but not surprised. They don’t seem to give a damn about the victims.

“It beggars belief that they could consider people like him good for release. We think he’s pure evil. He’s a monster.”

The Stanyer family’s probation officer, from Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust (SWMPT), has now written to its North-East counterpart, the Durham Tees Valley Probation Trust, asking why it was not informed of Bage’s recall.

A DDurham probation service spokesman said: “We can confirm that we have today received information from SWMPT concerning this case.

“The Trust is currently looking into the sharing of relevant information surrounding the individual’s recall and subsequent parole board hearing. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”

The Northern Echo has not been able to confirm why Bage, who is originally from the Durham area, was recalled to prison. However, 

Durham Constabulary referred enquiries to the Ministry of Justice, which said it would not comment on individual cases.

Bage, who is originally from the Durham area, stabbed Andrew Stanyer 40 times, having become jealous of his relationship with his former partner. He hid in the woman’s loft before attacking his rival with a six-inch kitchen knife.

At the time of his release, in 2005, the probation service said safeguards were in place to monitor Bage and pledged he would not go unsupervised.

However, earlier this year he got a job at the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City.

Balfour Beatty Workplace, the private company that employed him, said it had no idea about his criminal past and acted immediately when the truth came to light.

It says Bage's job would not have brought him into direct contact with patients.

Andrew Stanyer would have celebrated his birthday on Christmas Eve.

His brother said: “You do learn to live with what happened. But it’s still always there. There isn’t a day that you don’t think about it.

“You’re always looking over your shoulder in dark corners.

“Every family occasion, you wonder what Andrew would have done, what he would have thought.”