Content Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains the image and name of a Gomeroi person who has passed away.
The long-awaited coronial inquest into the death of Gomeroi teenager, Mark Anthony Haines, resumed yesterday, examining the suspicious circumstances surrounding the seventeen-year-old’s death in 1988. The inquest comes after decades of campaigning by the family, who continue to seek answers about how Mark came to be found on 16 January 1988 on the train tracks outside of Tamworth.
The National Justice Project has been acting for Mark’s next-of-kin – his sister Lorna and his brother Ron.
“It’s been a long road to get here, and today has been a lot to take in,” said Ron Haines. “We’re all here for Mark. All we’ve ever wanted is some closure, for our family, and for Mum and Dad, who aren’t here to see this day. We just want the truth about what happened to our Mark and why.
It’s been painful carrying this for so many years, but we’re grateful to the Coroner, the National Justice Project, and everyone who has stood by us and helped us get to this point. It means a lot to finally be heard.”
- New eyewitness testimony attempts to shed more light on mysterious death of Mark Haines – ABC News , 13 October
- Inquest hears from friends and schoolmates of Mark Haines, Gomeroi teenager who died in 1988, National Indigenous Times, 13 October
