A CANADIAN man who beat his Blackburn fiancee senseless and left her in a vegetative state for nearly 23 years will not be charged with her murder.

Gillian Porter died last December but an inquest in Blackburn earlier this month ruled that her death was as a result of the injuries inflicted by her fiance Raymond Jules in Toronto more than two decades ago.

Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of unlawful killing after hearing how Gillian died after contracting pneumonia which doctors believe was as a result of the neurological damage she sustained in the attack.

Jules, who was diagnosed as schizophrenic, was jailed for three months and given 18 months' probation following the attack in 1980.

But after the inquest the coroner asked for details of the case to be passed on to the Canadian police so they could decide whether it was in their powers or the public interest to bring about further legal proceedings.

Now Toronto's leading prosecutor, chief crown attorney Paul Culver, said it would be impossible to move against Jules after 23 years because it would be covered by res judicata, which is similar to the law of double jeopardy.

It forbids a person being prosecuted twice for the same crime.

Mr Culver said: "It means he has already been prosecuted as a result of the act that led to the injury. After 20-plus years it would be impossible to draw a connection between the act and the death.

Gillian fell in love with Jules, a Canadian who had been working in Britain, and moved from Lancashire to Toronto to marry him.

A Criminal Injuries Board of Ontario report, written in 1984, said of the attack that Jules "suddenly went berserk and assaulted the victim. The resultant head injuries were catastrophic and doctors did not expect her to survive."

Gillian's parents Edith and the late Derek, from Livesey, brought their daughter back to Blackburn and cared for her at home, despite injuries which left her totally physically dependent.

Mrs Porter, who also has two sons, Randolph and Ralph, told the inquest that the initial prognosis had been that Gillian, a former pupil at Witton Park School, Blackburn, would live for three to five years.

She lived at home before moving to a nursing home just a few months prior to her death last December.

Pathologist Timothy Dawson, who carried out a post-mortem examination, described massive head injuries which caused a blood clot on the brain.

He said the fact that Gillian had survived so long was testament to the excellent care she had received from her family.