NSW Coronial Inquest into 1988 death of teenager Mark Haines

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The friend of a teenager who was found dead on train tracks in New South Wales in the 1980s has told a coroner his girlfriend knows more than she's told police but is too scared to speak.

Transcript

00:00The body of 17-year-old Gomeroi teenager Mark Anthony Haynes was discovered on train tracks

00:07just south of Tamworth 36 years ago under suspicious circumstances with police initially

00:13believing he was responsible for his own death.

00:17We've returned to Tamworth for a third week of hearings in the second inquest into his

00:23death with the first witness this morning, Natalie Blanche, a former friend of Mark's

00:29and his girlfriend at the time in 1988, Tanya White.

00:33She told the court this morning she was with Miss White and Mark Haynes on the evening

00:38of January 15, 1988.

00:41The court has previously heard from Tanya.

00:44She gave evidence at the last batch of hearings in April of this year.

00:49She had told the court she last saw Mark Haynes at roughly 3.30am on the morning of January

00:5616 and has no further knowledge of the circumstances that led to his death.

01:01A white Holden Tirana was found close to Mark's body, roughly a kilometre from his body at

01:08the time.

01:09Police had initially theorised Mark may have stolen the vehicle, had been involved in some

01:14sort of accident and had made his way out onto the tracks under his own volition.

01:18But today in court we heard from Miss Blanche that Miss White had allegedly told her over

01:25the many years since 1988 that she knew who was not only driving that vehicle, but who

01:31the occupants of the vehicle were, but she was too scared to speak.

01:36It's important to mention Miss Blanche did not specify whether the vehicle she was talking

01:41about in court was the same vehicle that was found close to Mark's body.

01:46The inquest is due to run until Friday with any further dates yet to be confirmed.

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