Anna Jenkins's death never got the criminal probe it deserved, says judge
GEORGE TOWN : The police treated the disappearance of the late Anna Jenkins only as a missing persons case and failed to explore if she had been kidnapped or wrongfully detained, according to the High Court here.
Justice Rofiah Mohamad, in her grounds supporting a coroner's open verdict, said investigators never pursued the case as a possible crime, despite obvious signs after Jenkins's remains were found in an unusual location with bone damage.
'The investigation was never treated as a criminal case involving kidnapping, wrongful detention, or any other criminal elements,' she said in her broad grounds of judgment on the case of the Australian grandmother, who went missing in 2017 during a holiday with her husband in Penang.
The skeletal remains of the Parit Buntar-born Jenkins were found three years later at a bungalow construction site near the Penang Turf Club.
In 2023, coroner Norsalha Hamzah ruled the cause of death could not be determined. The Jenkins family applied for a revision, asking the High Court to set aside the open verdict and rule it a homicide.
Rofiah said the coroner's open verdict must stand for now, as there was insufficient evidence to classify the death as a homicide, but emphasised that the inquest had been 'premature' and called for a fresh investigation.
She said she understood the family's frustration but stated that the law required more solid proof to classify it as murder.
'Until such an investigation is conducted, this court is not in a position to conclusively determine that the deceased's death was a homicide,' Rofiah added.
She said the only evidence hinting at possible third-party involvement was the strange location of the remains and a bony defect not caused by animals. However, she added, these alone were not enough.
'Even if the inference is reasonable, it remains only a strong suspicion without further evidence.
'No matter how strong the basis for suspicion, under the law, it is still not a proven fact that can support a verdict,' she said, adding that concrete findings can only come from a 'serious and complete' probe.
She said new investigations should be carried out in the interest of justice and that the prosecution still had the power to reopen the case as per Section 339(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Unlike Teoh Beng Hock and Adib Kassim's cases
Rofiah also said Jenkins's case was different from those of Teoh Beng Hock and firefighter Adib Kassim, where homicide verdicts were issued based on clear forensic and circumstantial evidence.
In Jenkins's case, such evidence did not exist, she said.
Deputy public prosecutors Nordin Ismail and Lee Jun Kiong appeared for the government, while David Peter represented the deceased's family.
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