Anna Jenkins: High Court sets April 28 for decision on open verdict revision

GEORGE TOWN: The High Court here has set April 28 to decide whether to revise the Coroner Court's open verdict into the death of Australian citizen, Annapuranee "Anna" Jenkins.

The revision application was filed by her son, Gregory Steven Jenkins, following the coroner court's ruling in May 2023, that declared an open verdict in the inquest of Anna, whose remains were found nearly three years later, after her 2017 abrupt disappearance while on holiday in Penang.

During the proceedings today, Judge Rofiah Mohamad who fixed March 14 for case management, said, she would not deliver her decision today and would try to convince the coroner, Norsalha Hamzah, to come up with the full grounds of her judgment.

"However, whether or not we receive anything from the Coroner's Court then, I will deliver my decision on April 28. This is to ensure fairness for everyone," she added.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Jun Keong told the court that they needed the coroner's grounds to reach the said decision before they could submit any highlights into the case.

The prosecutor also said that it was never the prosecution's intention to delay the matter as it had fulfilled its responsibility throughout the inquest proceedings.

Meanwhile, Gregory's lawyer, David Dev Peter said that the case started back in December 2021 and that there should not be any further delay.

"If we look at the last two pages of the note of the evidence, the broad grounds from the verdict were already there, hence, we should proceed with the revision application. This case is of public interest, not only locally but internationally," he added.

Also present today was Australian Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia, Simon Fellows.

-- BERNAMA

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