New anguish for family of tragic Nora
Coroner: Dead teen not abducted
THE family of teenager Nora Quoirin have been left ‘utterly devastated’ after a coroner ruled her death in the Malaysian jungle was not suspicious.
Nora, 15, from Balham, south London, was found dead nine days after she went missing at night from an eco-resort.
The inquest in Malaysia concluded that Nora, who suffered from brain development disorder holoprosencephaly, died due to misadventure.
Following the verdict the Quoirin family said testimony at the inquest showed Nora had been abducted from the Dusun resort near Seremban, 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur.
Her parents Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin said coroner Maimoonah Aid’s findings had been incomplete.
They said: ‘Once again we see that justice struggles to support the most vulnerable in society – only engaging with special needs at a surface level – and not at the level that truly reflects children like Nora.
‘We believe we have fought not just for Nora but in honour of all the special needs children in this world who deserve our most committed support and the most careful application of justice. This is Nora’s unique legacy and we will never let it go.’
Nora, who had a mental age of around five or six, had poor motor skills and was not able to walk unaided.
She went missing the day after the Quoirin family arrived at the resort in August 2019.
On the night of her disappearance, she was sleeping in a bedroom with her younger brother and sister, and was wearing only her underwear.
Nora’s naked body was found beside a small stream one and a half miles f rom the resort following searches for more than a week by rescue teams and hundreds of volunteers.
Police said there was no sign Nora had been abducted or raped and a preliminary postmortem examination found she had died as a result of intestinal bleeding brought on by starvation and stress.
Nora’s family have contested that there was no foul play involved in the death – they said Nora would have been unable to climb unaided through an open window at the chalet they were staying in.
They also drew attention to the loss of DNA evidence due to the amount of time taken to find her body.
The Quoirin family had hoped the coroner would record an open verdict – acknowledging foul play could have been a factor in her death but there was not enough evidence to prove it.
The Lucie Blackman Trust, which is supporting the family, said the verdict was a blow.
‘This is a hugely disappointing day for the family,’ said chief executive Matthew Searle.
‘It is clear that Nora could not have physically carried out the movements suggested.
‘It is crucial that to deliver a comprehensive verdict the coroner would have to have fully taken i nto account Nora’s condition – that they did so is not immediately apparent.’
‘Hugely disappointing’