THE MOTHER of a fugitive found hanged in a Polish prison cell has said she fears she will never know the full story behind his death.

Last year Ian McLean walked out of Littlemore hospital, took a taxi to London, the Eurostar to Brussels, and then buses and trains through Germany and on to the Baltic town of Kolobrzeg.

He was arrested by Polish police and days later he was found hanged in his prison cell in the town of Koszalin.

An inquest into his death is now due to take place at Oxford Coroner’s Court in January.

A hearing was held at the court on Thursday to determine who should be called to give evidence.

Speaking afterwards, Mc-Lean’s mother Mary Henderson said she felt her son had been failed badly by Polish prison officers.

But the coroner leading the inquest said he does not have the power to call any witnesses from the country.

Mrs Henderson said: “I am not satisfied. We will never get to the bottom of what happened there.”

She also said the Littlemore hospital had questions to answer over how her son – who was also known as Ian Mitchell – was allowed to escape, adding: “I cannot understand how he got out of that room.”

Mrs Henderson, 69, travelled from Mansfield for the hearing which was held on the first anniversary of her son’s death. She was joined by McLean’s uncle Billy Mitchell from Birmingham.

She said: “I would have been at the graveyard today if I had not been here.”

And she said the last year had been terrible, adding: “We still cannot believe he went and done that. For the whole family it has been terrible.”

Mr Mitchell, 66, added: “We would like to get to the bottom of it just so we can get our minds at rest.”

Oxfordshire Coroner Darren Salter said he had no power to summon witnesses or to get documents from Poland. He said: “Although there are concerns about what happened in Poland that is outside of my authority.”

But he did say documents had been sent over from prison staff interviewed as part of disciplinary investigations. He said: “There is a limit to what information can be obtained from Poland. We have a fair bit which will probably be sufficient for my purposes.”

McLean was jailed for life in 2004 for stabbing former partner Michelle Storer.

She survived and he admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

 

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