IAN McLEAN, the life prisoner who escaped from an unlocked unit at Littlemore Hospital, has been arrested in Poland.

McLean - jailed for life in 2004 for the violent attack on a former lover that left her with too many wounds to count - had been transferred to the mental health hospital from prison when he fled it on Sunday, July 7.

Within hours the 44-year-old was believed to have left the country and today police have announced he has been arrested in Kolobrzeg, Poland.

Spokeswoman Hannah Williams said he was thought to have travelled through Brussels and Berlin.

McLean, also known as Ian Mitchell, was detained under a European arrest warrant, she added.

Det Chief Insp Mark Johns said: “We would like to thank the authorities across Europe for their help tracing Mr McLean.

“We are also grateful for the public and media’s help with appealing for information.

“We will now be liaising with the Polish authorities and the Crown Prosecution Service and he will be returned to the UK.”

Oxford Health, which runs Littlemore Hospital, has not said how McLean managed to escape but has confirmed he was being held in an unlocked unit.

McLean had stabbed his former lover in Banbury as she slept. She survived the attack and he was sentenced to life - with a minimum term of four years - after he admitted wounding with intent.