I have never met a braver or more determined woman than Mrs Jan Edwards, the widow of Dave Edwards, the British Gas engineer who died in mysterious circumstances in St Petersburg nearly four years ago.

According to the official account Mr Edwards was knocked over and killed, late at night, by a police car.

The family are increasingly inclined to believe that he was murdered, and that the murder was then covered up by the authorities.

At the adjourned inquest in Warrington, the coroner heard evidence that Mr Edwards had been killed by a vehicle travelling at high speed, partly on the pavement, and going the wrong way down a one way street.

To my mind, the most extraordinary evidence comes from Brian McGuire, who was Mr Edwards' boss at British Gas and flew out immediately to investigate his death.

He testified that he had taken his inquiries up to a certain point, but then felt threatened by Russian security men, and drew them to a close.

"I have spent many years overseas," he said, "and don't expose myself to danger." That struck me as odd, because when we talked briefly outside the court Mr McGuire reminded me that this wasn't our first encounter. We had met once before in Sarajevo. In those days it was impossible to go to Sarajevo without exposing yourself to danger.

The Edwards family, from Knutsford, are surely entitled to a more thorough account of what happened than they have so far received.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.