Jill Meagher’s rape, murder ‘could have been avoided’

A coroner says the 2012 murder of Irish woman Jill Meagher by a serial rapist in Australia was “preventable” as her killer should have been behind bars at the time.

The Co Louth woman was raped and strangled in Melbourne, Victoria, by Adrian Bayley who then buried her remains in a shallow grave. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison, a jail term he unsuccessfully appealed.

While the young woman’s family decided against an inquest, coroner Ian Gray felt he still needed to take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding her death.