THE heartbroken mother of a Bolton man beaten to death on the holiday island of Tenerife, is set to take a private prosecution against the two men she claims killed her son.

And Greater Manchester Police have announced that they are liaising with the Spanish Authorities over the case.

Irene Hulse says she has been forced to take action because she believes the two men held following her son Michael's death, have now managed to escape the island.

The pair, also from Bolton, were alleged to have been implicated in the death of Michael who was viciously beaten and later died in the Canary Islands' main hospital in Santa Cruz as a result of massive head injuries.

An inquest this week recorded a verdict of "unlawful killing" after hearing how Michael, aged 37, from Solent Drive in Darcy Lever, met his death. Following the hearing, Bolton Coroner Martin Coppel sent a letter outlining his findings to Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable David Wilmot.

The inquest was told that the men accused had been arrested and identified in two separate identity parades in Tenerife.

As a result their passports had been confiscated and while awaiting trial, they were ordered to report to the court on a regular basis.

However, the pair suddenly stopped appearing at the court, and have not been seen in Tenerife since June.

It is believed that they somehow made their way back to the UK.

No extradition order has been made for them. And an English journalist working in Tenerife said: "Whether an extradition order is made depends on a judge examining all the evidence. "If he decides this is murder then he will put an order out through Interpol. This court in Tenerife is notoriously one of the slowest in Europe and the whole process could take years."

Michael's mother, Irene, said she now believed her best chance of getting justice would be to take out a private prosecution against them.

She said: "The Foreign Office told me months ago that it was the best course of action.

"They as good as said 'you are on your own'. I have hired a Spanish solicitor and am hoping that as we progress, the Spanish public prosecutor will join me.

"I can barely afford any of this, but have to keep trying. All I want is justice for my son.

"The men responsible should have been kept locked up in Tenerife. "Now I have to just take one day at a time. It hurts all the time."

Following the coroner's letter enclosing the inquest report, Det Chief Supt David James, head of Greater Manchester CID, told the BEN: "We are currently liaising with the Spanish authorities as to the stage where the original investigation has reached."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.