A criminal on licence was bailed by police on suspicion of possessing a bladed weapon in a public place days before he murdered a pensioner in a hammer and machete attack.

North Wales police recorded eight incidents with Jordan Davidson between his release from prison for burglary in December 2016 and the killing of Nicholas Churton, 67, in Wrexham the following March.

However, the 27-year-old was not classed as a high-risk offender so the force did not flag any of the incidents, which also included two arrests for theft, one for breach of the peace and a sexual assault allegation over which he was not charged.

Instead, “ad-hoc liaison arrangements” were made between North Wales police and a private sector probation operator, which “significantly contributed to the sequence of events”, the police watchdog said.

A report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found officers communicated with probation staff to varying degrees, with some officers taking proactive steps despite the lack of protocol.

But the National Probation Service and the private firm, a community rehabilitation company (CRC), were not informed of the knife possession arrest on 19 March until 24 March – the day Churton is understood to have been murdered.

The IOPC called for better information-sharing between the three agencies as “a matter of priority”.

The IOPC director for Wales, Catrin Evans, said: “There was no documented process, clear audit or specific guidance for those dealing with incidents involving Jordan Davidson and the decision to engage with the CRC was left to the discretion and experience of individual officers, with varying results.

“We have shared and discussed the findings and learning from our investigations with these bodies, as well as Mr Churton’s family, for whom I again express my sympathies.

“I am arranging a meeting with North Wales police and the probation service to discuss systemic issues and reinforce the need for them to work together better. It is important that together they improve their processes and criteria for sharing information regarding medium- and low-risk individuals on licence.”

A police sergeant faces a misconduct hearing over claims that he did not carry out an adequate assessment of available information before Davidson’s release on bail before the murder.

The former Labour MP for Wrexham Ian Lucas called for an independent judicial inquiry into the case. He said: “The blame for the systemic failings lies squarely with the last Tory government, and specifically Chris Grayling’s disastrous Transforming Rehabilitation programme, which he oversaw when he was justice secretary.

“The Tories created an inadequate and under-resourced system for supervising offenders in the community – a system which is widely accepted to have been flawed and is already being overhauled, at an enormous cost to the taxpayer.”

Lucas added: “Davidson was a dangerous criminal and was known around Wrexham. He had come to the attention of the police eight times between his release and Mr Churton’s murder.

“I received correspondence from one constituent telling me how she witnessed Davidson attempting to rob an elderly gentleman, who was begging Davidson not to kill him. Davidson then pulled out a machete and threatened her with it. I find it terrifying that such a person was wandering the streets.”

A previous IOPC report on police contact with Churton in the days leading up to his death revealed that he reported he had been threatened with a hammer and was told to carry out his own inquiries.

Churton told police a man called Jordan had confronted him two days earlier had stolen his house keys and attempted to steal his television.

On 21 March an officer called Churton to obtain further details about “Jordan” and advised him that he should speak to his friends to try to find out the suspect’s details himself, the report said.

Churton called North Wales police on 23 March to tell them that the full name of the suspect was Jordan Davidson. Four days later he was found dead at his home in Crescent Close.

The IOPC found that two officers had cases to answer but misconduct was found not proven at meetings held by the police and their performance was deemed “unsatisfactory”.

Davidson was sentenced to life imprisonment for Churton’s murder and ordered to serve a minimum of 23 years and four months. The minimum term was later extended to 30 years by the court of appeal.