G Francis Udayappan was the only detainee to have escaped from the Brickfields police headquarters over the past two years, the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court was told today.

The station's officer-in-charge Badrol Hisham Osman (photo) said he had not lost a single detainee under his watch except for Francis since assuming the post on June 1, 2003.

The police officer was testifying at an inquest to ascertain the identity and cause of death of an highly decomposed unidentified body found on May 23 last year.

Francis, 24, was said to have escaped from custody by jumping into the nearby Klang river a month earlier.

In examining the witness, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ishak Mohd Yusof asked Badrol if he had any knowledge of the hole in the station's perimeter fencing, from which Francis was said to have made his getaway.

"I knew of the existing damage to the fence after taking over at the station. It was soon covered with a barb-wire. No one escaped through it before April 16 2004 (the day of Francis' alleged escape)," said Badrol.

Lock-up t-shirt

The DPP also asked if the city police lock-up t-shirt, which Francis was wearing during his alleged escape, were all accounted for and if there had been any unreturned in the past.

Badrol explained that out of the original 120 t-shirts in the station, there were now 119, owing the one which was missing to Francis. He also explained that in the past, there have been t-shirts which were unreturned.

The inquest, which began on Aug 10 , resumed today after the scheduled hearings on Jan 5 and 6 were cancelled because the DPP was held up in a higher court on Wednesday and magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham - acting as coroner - had been ill yesterday.

Today's hour-long proceeding, due to the DPP's late arrival, also saw him hand-in a written submission in rebuttal of Francis' mother's lawyer's request for access to all evidence presented in the inquest.

M Puravalen had been given the right by the Kuala Lumpur High Court, following an appeal, to examine witnesses and evidence. However he has been having difficulties accessing evidence, such as police statements, due to the DPP's insistence otherwise.

The inquest is a result of a protracted battle between Francis' family, who claim the police beat the petty theft suspect to death and dumped his body in the river. An investigation later ruled out any foul play.

Hearing will tentatively resume on Jan 19 as requests for the proceedings to continue sooner were left hanging as the DPP will be in Perlis for the whole of next week.

However, the coroner indicated that the proceedings could continue next week if the forensic pathologist, who conducted the post-mortem on the body is available.

Francis' mother G Sara Lily had positively identified the body as that of her son based on a tattoo and teeth deformity.

However, a DNA test conducted using the mother's blood sample and a bone-marrow sample from the body, failed to prove a match.

If available, the pathologist - who is migrating to Australia in the next week or two - will be examined solely by Puravalen in the coroner's presence.