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.
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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.