OXFORD Health has some serious questions to answer.

How was a prisoner, serving a life sentence for stabbing his former lover, able to walk free from a mental health hospital and flee to a seaside resort in Europe?

The question is all the more pressing given Ian McLean’s death.

Add to that the outstanding questions about the trust’s handling of convicted murderer Kauthar Silvera, who killed her mother just days after she was discharged.

Clearly the trust and its staff deal with troubled individuals on a daily basis.

No-one pretends that theirs isn’t a challenging, even dangerous job.

But to have two such serious incidents within the space of a year is troubling.

Add to that failed inspections by the Care Quality Commission and the suicides of two mental health patients last year and this becomes a matter of real urgency.

We wholeheartedly agree with Oxford East MP Andrew Smith when he says there is a crucial need for a quick resolution to restore public confidence.

It is not enough to bring out cliches about “lessons being learned”.

There needs need a full and frank inquiry, held in public, to bring these matters to light.

This is about protecting society from violent prisoners as well as protecting the prisoners from themsleves.

Ian McLean’s escape and subsequent death was a tragedy for his family. Now it’s up to mental health bosses to prove to us that there are no further tragedies lurking around the corner.