Jean Hanlon

Michael's suspicions were raised when he learned Jean phoned a friend and left a message: "Help me!"

BUBBLY Jean Hanlon wanted a fresh start after the break-up of her marriage so, just like Shirley Valentine, she headed for the excitement of Greece.

Slim, attractive and young at heart, she quickly became a popular figure among locals on the holiday island of Crete.

With a job in the travel industry and some bar work, she began laying down roots and hoped that she would find a new partner.

But those dreams ended last March when, aged 53, she went missing and two days later her body was found in the harbour in Heraklion.

At first it was thought to have been an accident but her son Michael Porter's suspicions were raised when he learned Jean had phoned a friend and left the message: 'Help me!'

He has hired a private detective because he believes his mother was murdered and is demanding Greek police launch a full investigation.

Michael, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, said: 'Our family is convinced she had her neck broken in foul play and we need her killer or killers to be found and brought to justice. It wasn't an accidental death.'

Speaking for the first time about his mother's death, Michael, 25, said: 'After getting divorced she moved to Greece for a fresh start. She was young at heart, very attractive and popular and quickly made lots of friends. She was just like Shirley Valentine.'

In the film, actress Pauline Collins plays a bored middle-aged housewife who travels to the Greek island of Mykonos to find romance and adventure.

As the first anniversary of his mother's death approaches, Michael has branded the Greek authorities 'incompetent' and is calling on Gordon Brown to step in to help. He said: 'It's nearly a year and we still don't know what happened to our mum. The case is a complete shambles.

'Our family's been shown no compassion by police in Greece, we've been treated disgustingly and we've had no support from our own Foreign Office.

'It's just another case of a tragedy happening overseas with cops not giving a damn and fobbing us off. There's a problem with the language barrier and incompetence on their part. We want to make sure other families don't have to suffer like us.

'We're urging the Prime Minister to help us find out what really happened.' The alarm was raised when Jean failed to turn up at the home of a disabled woman she was helping to care for. Two days later her body was discovered.

Michael, who has visited Crete several times with his two brothers, said: 'Police were not aware but we discovered she had called a friend. She sounded distressed and like she was really drunk or had been drugged and said a car had been following her earlier that night. She later texted the man asking for help.'

According to Jean's friend, Belgian Peter Verscheun, 40, Jean was last seen in the Caf'Marina in Heraklion, a half hour drive from the village of Gouves where she lived, and had been drinking with a man who spoke little English.

Police have failed to give a cause of death and are even accused of stealing Jean's internal organs.

Michael, an actor, believes his mother's neck was broken, possibly after she died.

He has now appealed for help from Clarence Mitchell, who has spearheaded a global hunt for Madeleine McCann.

He used his fee from appearing in pantomime, plus '7,000 raised from a show he staged for Jean called Simply The Best, to pay for a private investigator.

Michael, who has just finished starring in Aladdin at Mansfield's Palace Theatre with former EastEnders star Babita Pohoomull, said: 'We've been at our wit's end. Ever since we buried our mum the waiting game has got longer and the frustration and non-communication has become unbearable.

'Ever since hearing the news we've had a disgusting lack of help, support, advice or direction. The whole process of being informed, identifying mum's body, getting help or advice on what to do, receiving information when across there and being contacted and kept informed when back home in the UK has been very poor.' Jean had been living in Crete for four years, returning home to visit family in Dumfries and the Midlands in the winter.

She worked for tour company My Travel before quitting for a bar and restaurant job.

Michael and his brothers David and Robert, supported by their father Robert senior, have flown to Crete several times to try to trace their mother's last movements and get information from police there.

Michael said: 'We found a death certificate through her bank manager in Crete which suggested she had either drowned, fallen or broken her neck. We tried to get a second post-mortem carried out but it was unascertainable because of what the Greeks had done. We believe her organs had been stripped from her body.'

Police have quizzed two suspects but no charges have yet been brought, while Dumfries Labour MP Russell Brown has written to officers demanding a full investigation.

Mr Mitchell, Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman, said: 'Michael and his family are desperate to find out what happened to their mother and want justice to be done.'