Nora Anne’s family applies to attend inquest via video

SEREMBAN: The family of 15-yearold Irish girl Nora Anne Quoirin has applied to the Coroner’s Court here to allow them to attend an impending inquest into her death via video-conferencing from the United Kingdom.

Lawyer Datuk Sankara Nair told coroner Junaidah Mohd Isa that the family was hoping that the proceedings could be conducted in English.

“Since they are not able to be here, they are asking the court if these requests could be accommodated,” he said, adding that it would be a costly affair for them to be physically present throughout the duration of the inquest.

Junaidah said she or any other coroner appointed to hear the inquest would decide on this when the case comes up next for case management.

Nora Anne, who had learning difficulties, disappeared from a resort in Pantai Hill near Seremban on Aug 3 last year, a day after her family arrived in Malaysia for a holiday.

Her naked body was found 10 days later near a stream in a ravine near the resort where the family was staying. Police had ruled out foul play.

An autopsy found that the girl had died from internal bleeding, probably caused by prolonged hunger and stress. She had suffered intestinal damage and died two or three days before her body was found.

The family believes there is a criminal element in her disappearance as she was a special needs child who had never gone out by herself.

Earlier, Junaidah fixed Aug 4 for case management into her death and ordered inquest conducting officer Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad to “narrow down” the number of witnesses after he presented the names of 589 potential witnesses.

Junaidah told Muhamad to spell out the role of each witness who was involved in the 10-day search for the girl.

“It is my hope that the conducting officer can assist the court to determine the role played by each witness in the search and rescue operation. The coroner will need to know which witness played a primary role.

“The court hopes the conducting officer can scrutinise the list of witnesses and identify how they were involved in looking for the missing girl so we can finalise who needs to be called in to testify,” she said.

Muhamad told the coroner his team had presented the names of 589 potential witnesses as they wanted to be as transparent as possible but was prepared to remove names of witnesses the court felt were not needed.

When met outside the court, Sankara was asked if the family had conducted a second post-mortem on Nora Anne’s remains.

“They have done it in the UK but it will be up to them to tender it to the coroner,” he said.

Nora Anne’s family has also filed a separate suit against the resort operator, claiming negligence in her death.