Mother of Nora Quoirin ‘pleased’ as ‘misadventure’ inquest verdict overturned

Nóra’s parents have long questioned the earlier conclusions of the investigation into their daughter’s death. File Picture: PA

A court in Malaysia has overturned a “misadventure” inquest verdict in the case examining the death of Irish teenager Nóra Quoirin.

Nóra disappeared from the Dusun hotel resort in Seremban, a city 60km south of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur in August 2019.

Her body was discovered 10 days later around 2km away beside a stream in dense jungle. An autopsy concluded she likely died of internal bleeding and starvation.

In January of this year, a coroner ruled that her death was the result of “misadventure”, essentially indicating that it was accidental and not criminal.

However, this decision has now been overturned, in place of an “open” ruling.

"I am of the view that the verdict of misadventure ought to be vacated, in the interests of justice and substituted with an open verdict, as there was no credible evidence to support any other verdict," said Judge Azizul Azmi Adnan at the Malaysian High Court in Seremban.

Speaking following the Malaysian court’s decision, Nóra's mother, Meabh Quoirin, said the family were relieved by the outcome.

“It’s a very big day for us, we’re very emotional,” she told the BBC.

“But we’re very pleased with the outcome. Nora was always going to be worth fighting for and this is the verdict we wanted.

“It was really the only reasonable verdict open to us in the sense that the proof that we had could only really lead to this road as a credible one as far as we were concerned.”

Investigation questioned

Nóra’s parents have long questioned the earlier conclusions of the investigation into their daughter’s death.

In their investigation, Malaysian police said they believed Nóra climbed out the window of her room.

At the time and during the months since, Meabh and Sebastian Quoiran have insisted that this would have been completely out of character for Nóra.

Nóra, who had learning difficulties, was born with holoprosencephaly, a disorder that affected her mobility. 

Her parents said she would have struggled to venture so far alone.

Her mother told the coroner’s court that she doubted that her daughter, who weighed just 30kg, would have been strong enough to open and climb out of the bedroom window. 

Her parents believe that was abducted and that there are still questions that need to be answered about the case.

Presenting the family’s case at a hearing last week, lawyer Louise Amzi said an "open" verdict in the case would be appropriate.

The last thing that [Nóra] would do is to walk away from the security of her parents,” Ms Amzi said.