A BAIRNSDALE family has stopped the coroner from performing an autopsy on their child who died when she got tangled in her skipping rope.
Sarah Traynor was found hanging from the rope tangled on a backyard swing set at her Bairnsdale home on November 21.The family successfully applied to the Victorian Supreme Court to stop the coroner from performing a post-mortem examination on her body.
Justice John Digby today found the protection of the family against further anguish outweighed an autopsy in the public's interest in the unexplained death.
He said all the evidence pointed to a "tragic accident" and said the coroner had failed to provide adequate reasons for an autopsy being performed.
"The court is not persuaded that it is likely . . . useful information will be obtained by an autopsy on the deceased," Justice Digby said.
"All the evidence is to the effect this young child died of a tragic accident."
Justice Digby said Sarah's mother "just wants her daughter's body so she can bury her".
He also noted a police report and CT scan showed no evidence of suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
The family's barrister Ian Freckelton, SC, on Friday told the court a post-mortem would subject Sarah's family to further heartache.
"To undertake an intrusive dissection of seven-year-old Sarah, you know is going to cause considerable distress to her parents," he said.
But Fiona Ellis, for coroner Heather Spooner, had argued more details were necessary on the unwitnessed death in "extremely unusual circumstances".
A forensic pathologist who examined Sarah's body the day after the accident had been unable to find a reasonable medical cause of death, Ms Ellis said on Friday.
