The employer and landlady of a convicted killer who raped a ten-year-old boy have attacked the probation service for failing to give them full details of his past history.

Stephen Ayre, 44, assaulted the boy while out on licence from prison after serving 20 years for the murder of a woman in 1984.

He was jailed for life after battering to death dressmaker Irene Hudson in Shipley, and now faces a new life sentence for the shocking sex attack on the boy last month.

Probation chiefs have launched an urgent investigation into how his case was handled after he was released on licence ten months ago.

They will look closely at how Ayre came to be living in a private rented flat after the landlady claimed they were not involved in his move from a hostel, and told her nothing about his past.

And the man who gave Ayre a job has also complained that he was not given correct details about him by the probation service, saying he would not have employed him had he known the truth.

It also emerged this week that Ayre, who attacked the boy in Saltaire where he had been living, had been prohibited from working with children because of a previous offence, although the probation service has not given any details of that offence.

The landlady of the flat in Bingley Road, Saltaire where Ayre lived since last October, is taking legal advice and has complained in writing to the probation service.

The woman, who does not want to be named, only found out the truth about Ayre when police called at her home two weeks ago and asked for the keys to the flat.

She said: "They didn't tell me what was going on, but they said I couldn't go down there because it was too dangerous. Later they rang to say they had arrested Stephen Ayre.

"One of the tenants, who had befriended Ayre, told me he had served 20 years in prison for murder. Ayre had told him about it over a drink.

"I have been told the procedure should have been that after seeing the room Ayre should have gone back with a probation officer, but he didn't."

Ayre had seen an advert for her flat, she said, and went to look at it. She said: "He seemed all right. He said he would take it and he came back with a reference from his employer, who paid the £200 bond and £330 for the first month's rent. Ayre gave me his contact numbers and sister's address and everything seemed okay."

Peter Batty, works manager of a factory in Low Moor which employed Ayre as a labourer, claimed he was given wrong information about his criminal past by a probation officer.

He said: "I interviewed him and he came across as a nice, polite, quiet person. He told me he had served 21 years for murder. He said he had repeatedly hit his brother-in-law with a dustbin lid because the bloke was hitting his sister and he had died.

"We contacted his probation officer who confirmed what he had told us and said he was not a danger to our employees. We knew what he said he had done was wrong, but because the bloke had been beating up his sister and he said it wasn't his intention to kill him, we didn't see him as a cold-blooded murderer and decided to give him a chance for a future.

"We employed him on September 5 last year and he was a very polite, obliging and hard-working employee. Everyone, including the women staff, thought he was a smashing fella."

Mr Batty, 38, said: "On Monday of last week he didn't turn up for work. I spoke to the probation office and they said he had got himself in trouble and would not be returning.

"I feel the probation service has failed. I wouldn't have employed him if I'd been told what he actually did."

A West Yorkshire Probation spokesman said: "Our records show we had contact with Mr Batty and he was aware of the conviction."

But she was unable to say what details had been given to Mr Batty.

She added: "The probation service would have to approve anywhere where a licensed prisoner lives. The review will look at whether that was the case here.

"It will be a full review by a senior manager and will look at the case step by step. It will be done as quickly as possible and will find out whether anything has gone wrong in this case and whether there is anything we can learn from this case."

A life prisoner would initially go to a hostel when released on licence and would be seen weekly by probation for the first 12 months. Regular reports on their progress are sent to the Home Office.

When they move out of hostel accommodation they continue to be monitored, in partnership with other agencies like social services, housing department and child protection bodies, and can be visited several times a week.