Cops told me to collect
mum’s remains or they’ll
be disposed of, son claims
Greg Jenkins expresses outrage over the police handling of his mother Anna’s remains and possessions.
Greg Jenkins, whose mother went missing in 2017 before her remains were discovered near the Penang Turf Club in 2020, said such an ultimatum does not align with international standards for handling evidence in unresolved cases.
“They’ve also got mum’s possessions. They have informed me (that) if I don’t pick up her possessions and remains by the end of the month, they will be destroyed.
“That breaks every policy across Commonwealth countries,” he told reporters after the High Court postponed its decision on whether to revise the coroner’s open verdict in his mother’s death.
Judge Rofiah Mohamad said she would not rule on the matter today, as had been scheduled earlier, giving the prosecution until March 14 to obtain the coroner’s written grounds.
She set April 28 as the date for her verdict, regardless of whether the full written grounds are supplied or otherwise.
Greg also shared his frustration over difficulties in identifying the investigating officer handling the case.
“The previous one has left, but there’s a new one. There’s a female police officer who said she can unofficially give me the effects.
“But that’s against the policy because you need the investigating officer who has to account for it and then sign it over with official paperwork,” he said.
He said he declined the unofficial offer, insisting that the transfer of his mother’s remains and belongings be properly recorded.
FMT has reached out to the Penang police for comment.
Greg also questioned the level of support provided by the Australian government to crime victims’ families abroad, comparing it to aid given to convicted citizens like those in the Bali Nine drug trafficking case.
He urged Australian foreign minister Penny Wong to clarify the government’s stance on supporting families of Australian citizens in such situations.
“The only thing that we have in place in Australia at the moment, which I’m trying to change, is if you’re being imprisoned and convicted of a drug charge and facing 20 more years in prison, then you get everything handed to you. So you get lawyers, you get everything,” he said.
Australia’s deputy high commissioner to Malaysia, Simon Fellows, who was present at the court hearing earlier, said the high commission was “doing whatever it could” to help the Jenkins family.
“The high commission will continue to offer consular assistance to the family,” he told reporters.
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