The Dusun Resort former manager, Helen Todd today told the Seremban Coroner’s Court that the resort was a safe place despite one or two broken fences in the western side of the resort.
Todd, 77, said there was no incident of burglary or intruder reported at the resort and it was a safe place as she and her family have been living in that property for the past 30 years.
“My husband and I live in this property for more than 30 years with my two children and grandchildren. It is always a safe place for my family and I, living in very open fence (which) anybody actually can climb up to the deck and balcony, but nobody ever did. We never had burglary or intruder in any of our houses,” she said.
Todd, who is the 38th witness at the inquest proceedings to determine the cause of French-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin’s death, said this when testifying on the 18th day of the proceedings before Coroner Maimoonah Aid. The proceeding today was held online due to the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
Asked by the family’s counsel Louise Azmi if she noticed the gap at the resort’s back fence and if Nora Anne has to climb it to get out, Todd who is a shareholder of The Dusun said: ”The fence at the back was almost flat to the ground, but she still has to climb over it.”
To another question by the lawyer of The Dusun Resort, Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar if she had seen Nora Anne’s family on the day they arrived on Aug 3, 2019, Todd said she saw them at 5.30 pm while she, her husband and grandson were swimming in the pool.
“I saw Qouirin’s family walking down the stairs, and they were all dressed up for walking with walking shoes, long-sleeved shirts, and they went past the pool up to Berlin gate and after that, I didn’t see where they went,” she said, adding that all of them were walking normally.
Meanwhile, the manager of The Dusun Resort, Nur Asmaq Lokman, 30, in her statement said that before the arrival of the family at the Sora House villa, there were 13 families staying in the same villa from July 5 to Aug 2 last year.
The 39th witness said during the period, the faulty window latch at the villa was not yet repaired.
“I think it (faulty latch) has been like that for a long time. In July, I asked Adam (resort worker) to look for the latch and Adam tried but could not find the same one and I said it was alright as Sora would be renovated in October, so we just let the matter rest,” she said.
Asked by Coroner Maimoonah on the reaction of the children of Meabh Jaseprine Quoirin and Sebastien Quoirin when she was briefing them on the facilities in the villa a day before Nora Anne was found missing, Nur Asmaq said she was only aware of the reaction of Nora Anne’s younger brother, Maurice Arthure who was seen very active and talked a lot.
“Nora was quiet and when I was explaining that the window can be opened if it was hot, Nora was sitting on the spiral staircase,” she said.
Nora Anne, 15, went missing on Aug 4 last year, a day after she and her family arrived in Malaysia for a two-week holiday.
Nora Anne’s body was found nine days later on Aug 13, near a stream in a hilly area, about 2.5 km from the resort, following a massive search operation.
A preliminary post-mortem report revealed there were no criminal elements in Nora Anne’s death and that the teenager had died of gastrointestinal bleeding, due to prolonged stress and hunger.
The court proceeding continues tomorrow.