Content Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains the image and name of a Gomeroi person who has passed away.
National Justice Project solicitors today joined the family of Gomeroi teenager Mark Anthony Haines as well as Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame at a smoking ceremony before the start of the final week of the inquest into his death.
After nearly 40 years since the teenager’s body was found on the train tracks outside of Tamworth, Mark’s sister Lorna and brother Ron continue to hope for long-overdue justice. The initial police investigation concluded that the teenager died by suicide after being struck by a train and in September 1989, a coronial inquest returned an open finding on his death.
The Haines family has long pointed to shortcomings in the police version of his death, including the loss of crucial evidence at the time and the failure to consider alternative conclusions to suicide and misadventure.
With support from the National Justice Project, the family secured a reopened inquest that commenced in April 2024 over 10 days in Tamworth. The inquest was adjourned after new evidence emerged and the Coroner will examine a number of witnesses in this final week.
***The inquest was due to conclude on Friday 4 April, 2025 but further hearings have been scheduled for later in the year.
