McLean was found dead at a London flat

Roderick McLean, 59, was found dead in a London flat in January - two months after he absconded from Leyhill Prison.

He was serving a 21-year sentence for his part in an attempt to smuggle cannabis worth �10m into Scotland.

A Prison Service report said he had come to be seen as a "model prisoner" who had committed a customs offence.

The service has refused to publish the full report of the inquiry into the escape due to security considerations.

Sight was lost of the quantity and potential monetary value of the drugs he was trying to smuggle into the country Paul Goggins Prisons Minister

However, its main findings were contained in a letter placed in the House of Commons library by Prisons Minister Paul Goggins.

He wrote: "Because of the almost total lack of any detailed documentary description of the offences for which he was convicted and sentenced, McLean came to be thought of as a 'model prisoner' serving a very long sentence for an ill-defined customs evasion offence.

"Sight was lost of the quantity and potential monetary value of the drugs he was trying to smuggle into the country."

Mr Goggins said McLean had been released on licence more than 20 times before he absconded.

His escape in November last year was reported to police as a "routine abscond" by a Category D prisoner sentenced for Customs and Excise evasion.

"There was nothing to flag up to the police the sophisticated and high value nature of McLean's criminal activity, let alone any of the other features of the case subsequently highlighted by the press," said Mr Goggins.

Existing policy

He said McLean's media portrayal as one of Scotland's most dangerous prisoners was "at variance with the experience of those with whom he came into contact".

And he said the decision to recategorise his status was "properly made by appropriate staff" and was "compliant with existing policy".

McLean had been moved to Leyhill in Gloucestershire from Saughton Prison in Edinburgh, where he had been held as a Category B inmate.

He was transferred after prison chiefs decided he would not try to escape.

Closed conditions

The report recommended that prison governors should give "sufficient consideration" to the offence committed and the length of sentence remaining before deciding whether to recategorise an inmate.

A number of open prison inmates have been recategorised and returned to closed conditions as a result of the inquiry.

Customs officer Alastair Soutar, 47, died when he was crushed between two boats during the operation to apprehend the McLean.

He was sentenced to 28 years in jail in 1997 for his part in the attempt to smuggle cannabis worth �10m from Spain to Scotland.

His jail term was later reduced by seven years.