Fresh anguish for tragic Nóra’s family
Heartbroken parents are ‘utterly disappointed’ by verdict of misadventure
THE family of a FrenchIrish schoolgirl found dead on a holiday in a Malaysian jungle have said they are ‘utterly disappointed’ after a verdict of death through misadventure.
Nóra Quoirin’s body was discovered nine days after she went missing from her family’s cottage at a holiday resort in August 2019.
Yesterday, coroner Maimoonah Aid ruled out homicide, natural death and suicide, and said it was more likely that the 15-yearold left the cottage on her own and ‘got lost’.
She told the court: ‘After hearing all the relevant evidence, I rule that there was no one involved in the death of Nóra Anne. It is more probable that she died by misadventure.’
She added: ‘ To speculate... [the] involvement of a third party without any proof, that would be a breach of my duty.’
However, Nóra’s family – Belfast-born Meabh and Frenchman Sebastien Quoirin – expressed their disappointment at the verdict. In a statement, 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 Nóra.
‘We believe we have fought not just for Nóra 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 Nóra’s unique legacy and we will never let it go.’
Her relatives recognised there was no physical evidence to aid the coroner. However, they added: ‘We are utterly disappointed by the coroner’s verdict of misadventure.
‘We witnessed 80 slides presented to the court today, none of which engaged with who Nóra really was – neither her personality nor her intellectual abilities.
‘The verdict focused exclusively on physical evidence and physical mobility, which we believe, presents a very incomplete/select theory on how Nóra came about her death.’
Nóra, from south London, was born with holoprosencephaly, a disorder which affects brain development. Her parents have previously spoken of how she had poor motor skills, needed help to walk, and had a mental age of about five or six.
The family had been staying at the Dusun eco resort near Seremban, about an hour south of the capital Kuala Lumpur, when Nóra disappeared.
She was reported missing on August 4, 2019 – the day after they had arrived for their twoweek ‘trip of a lifetime’.
The teenager had been sleeping in an upstairs bedroom with her siblings Innes, 12, and Maurice, 8, while her parents slept in another room.
The alarm was raised that Sunday morning when her father found her bed empty and a downstairs window open.
After an extensive search involving more than 350 people, her naked body was discovered on August 13 beside a stream on a palm oil plantation about 2.5km from the resort.
A post-mortem examination concluded Nóra had likely died of starvation and stress.
Forensic checks have been carried out on the apartment, while police said they were investigating fingerprints found on the
‘We will never let it go’
window. There is no indication they were suspicious.
Police also previously said there was no si gn t hat she was abducted or raped.
However, her family criticised the verdict, pointing to the evidence of the open window and saying that Nóra had neither the cognitive nor physical means to leave the chalet that way. They also highlighted the loss of DNA evidence during the period it took her body to be found.
Their legal team had sought an open verdict from the inquest, indicating there may be suspicion of foul play, but no proof to the required level.
Nóra’s grandfather, Sylvain Quoirin, has previously said it was ‘unthinkable’ that she would have left the cottage on her own.
‘She’s a young girl who is very shy, very reserved, very fearful,’ he said. ‘It is completely unthinkable that she should have gone out on her own at night.
‘You can completely exclude that possibility.’
Mr Quoirin, the mayor of Venizy in north-central France, added: ‘After an 18-hour flight and a seven-hour time difference, you would sleep soundly and not go for a stroll at night.’
LBT Global, a charity offering overseas crisis aid, has been supporting the family since Nóra’s disappearance and says it will continue to do so.
Chief executive Matthew Searle said: ‘This is a hugely disappointing day for the family.
‘It is clear that Nóra 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 into account Nóra’s condition – that they did so is not immediately apparent.
‘We will support the family tirelessly as they move forward.’
‘It is completely unthinkable’