Mark Warren Hearne was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988 at the age of 22 and told he had only three months to live; he nevertheless survived for another nine years, during which time he was convicted of robbery in 1992 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

While serving that sentence at HMP Camp HIll on the Isle of Wight he was admitted to St Mary's Hospital on the island with an AIDS-related illness; either because doctors believed him immobile or because he persuaded them he was, his prison guard was stood down, and Mark subsequently escaped from the hospital and the country was alerted.

We search the newspaper archives in a bid to piece together snippets of this young man's life, starting with a single clipping that announced the discovery of his lifeless body by neighbours in his London flat in August 1997 — he was 31.

All a ...