INQUEST: Leanne Thompson. Source: Supplied
AN inquest into the hanging-related death of a girl, 15, has been told her high risk lifestyle with a drug abuser led to her death and there was no evidence to support a claim she was murdered.
Julie Sharp, Counsel assisting the coroner, said "troubled teenager'' Leanne Thompson kept returning to boyfriend Alex O'Sachy, 28, who "preyed on'' her, treated her appallingly and fuelled her drug addiction.
In submissions at the end of the inquest, Ms Sharp told Brisbane Coroners Court Leanne was determined to live her life the way she wanted, and police and Child Safety officers were powerless to stop her.
"It was that high risk lifestyle that led to Leanne's tragic and untimely death,'' Ms Sharp said.
The coronial inquest has concluded and Coroner John Lock will deliver his inquest findings on May 3.
Leanne Thompson died in hospital of hypoxic brain injury due to hanging at 10.26pm on September 7, 2006.
Linda Hart, who lived next to the house where Leanne was found hanging, told police in 2010 that just after 12.15pm that day she saw Alex O'Sachy and his brother Daniel assaulting and hanging the teenager.
But Ms Sharp said because of evidence time frames, Ms Hart could not have seen the events that led to Leanne's death and forensic pathologists could not find evidence of injuries she said were inflicted on the girl.
"In my submission it is absolutely clear Leanne Thompson did not die in the way or at the time described by Ms Hart, " Ms Sharp said.
Ms Sharp said there were still some troubling issues about Leanne's death.
She said the origin of the complex noose used in her hanging remained a mystery and her neck injuries showed it was not a "classic hanging" case.
Ms Sharp said there also was the issue of why police who went to the Upper Mt Gravatt house to search for Leanne did not find her, when she must have been in the store room where she later was found hanging, or close by.
She said there was only 15 minutes between the arrival of those police, who spent five minutes at the house before going off to search for Leanne, and the arrival of paramedics after Leanne was found hanging.
"Although some mystery remains regarding Alex O'Sachy's contact with Leanne during that final period, there is no evidence that the inquiry has heard that he was involved to any greater extent than previously ascertained,'' Ms Sharp said.
Alex O'Sachy had stood trial for assisting Leanne's suicide by encouraging it, by telling her to go and kill herself, but a jury was unable to reach a verdict.
The charge was dropped after police began a homicide investigation following Linda Hart's 2010 statement.
Earlier today, Alex O'Sachy was sentenced to an extra six months in jail for contempt of court after he refused the coroner's order to answer questions at the inquest.
O'Sachy will have the six months added on to the current five-year jail term he is serving for drug trafficking.
Coroner John Lock said he would now be eligible for parole on February 6.
O'Sachy refused answer questions at the inquest on Tuesday, even after warnings that he could be charged.
Mr Lock said as O'Sachy was most likely to have been the last person to see Leanne alive his evidence could have been important and perhaps crucial to the inquest findings.
Mr Lock said he had directed O'Sachy to give evidence at the inquest, even if it tended to incriminate him, as it was in the public interest.
"This is a particularly serious example of contempt," Mr Lock said.
He said O'Sachy lied to police after Leanne's death on September 7, 2006, by saying he was not in a sexual relationship with her.
He later had served six months imprisonment for unlawful carnal knowledge of Leanne.
Ms Sharp earlier told Brisbane Coroners Court that on O'Sachy's account he was also the first person to see her hanging under a house, after police did a "cursory search" in that area on the day she died.
When he first appeared in court on Tuesday, O'Sachy told Brisbane Coroners Court: "I've given my statement. Nothing else to say. It's a tragic thing that happened."
After refusing to answer several questions from Ms Sharp he was warned by the coroner he could be held in contempt of court.
After consulting with his lawyer Craig Chowdhury, O'Sachy, who had been brought from prison, said: "I had nothing to do with the death of Leanne Thompson. That's all I've got to say."
Alex O'Sachy has never given evidence about the death of Leanne and has only ever made one statement to police, the day after her death.
He stood trial for assisting her suicide, but a jury was unable to reach a verdict and the charge was dropped.
He served a six month sentence for unlawful carnal knowledge of Leanne Thompson, the court heard.
Leanne Melissa Thompson, the daughter of Sergeant Damian Rockett, died on September 7, 2006, from hypoxia brain injury due to hanging, the court has been told by a pathologist.
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