Nora Quoirin's family to sue owner of Dusun Malaysian resort where Brit teen went missing

Nora went missing in August last year
AFP/Getty Images
Tim Baker21 January 2020

Nora Quoirin’s family are to sue the owner of the nature resort she disappeared from in Malaysia for alleged negligence.

After the 15-year-old Londoner, who had learning difficulties, went missing from the family’s cottage in August 4 last year, a massive search operation was launched.

Her body was found 1.6 miles away on August 13, with doctors saying she died from intestinal bleeding due to starvation and stress, with no signs of abduction or rape.

Sankara Nair, a lawyer for Nora’s parents Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, said the family strongly believed Nora was abducted due to her mental and physical disabilities meaning she could not have wandered off on her own.

The lawsuit says a cottage window was found ajar, with its latch broken, on the morning she disappeared.

Nora Quoirin Funeral

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The resort gate was left open at all times without any security and there was no surveillance camera except for the reception area, the legal papers said.

Nora had poor motor skills and needed help to walk, and her mental age was about five or six years old, her parents said in the claim.

Mr Sankara said outside a court in Negeri Sembilan after a procedural session on the case: “The place was not safe for the child because of the negligence… anybody could have come in and taken the child.”

Meabh Quoirin believes her daughter was abducted
RTE

Nora’s French-Irish parents are seeking more than 180,000 ringgit (£34,000) over losses, bereavement costs and damages for pain and suffering from the resort owner, Helen Marion Todd.

Ms Todd’s lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

Mr Sankara said the family has asked Malaysia’s attorney-general to launch an inquest because the post-mortem inquiry would not include what happened to Nora before her death. Police have said a complete post-mortem report will be released soon.

Nora’s parents previously said they were shocked when Malaysian prosecutors cl​assified Nora’s death as requiring “no further action” based on the preliminary coroner’s report, essentially ruling out any inquest. They said the move could prevent justice being done.

In a statement issued by the Lucie Blackman Trust, a charity which helps British families in crisis overseas, the parents said: “It is crucial to understand how Nora came to be found where she was. As a vulnerable child, with significant physical and mental challenges, we strongly refute any conclusion that Nora was alone for the entire duration of her disappearance.

“We have repeatedly asked the police to clarify answers to our questions in this regard – and we have been repeatedly ignored.”

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

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