A TEENAGE girl who was found dead in a Malaysian jungle "wouldn't have the confidence to walk off on her own", her head teacher has told an inquest.
Nóra Quoirin and her family, including her Belfast-born mother Meabh Quoirin, were staying in an eco-resort near Seremban, about 40 miles from Kuala Lumpur, when she was reported missing on August 4 2019.
Her disappearance sparked a massive search. Her naked body was found on August 13 beside a stream in a palm oil estate about 1.6 miles from the resort.
Police have told the inquest in Seremban an investigation showed no criminal element and there was no indication Nóra had been abducted. Officers believe she climbed out of a window on her own, and the post-mortem examination showed she succumbed to intestinal bleeding due to starvation and stress.
But Ms Quoirin and her French husband, Sebastien Quoirin, say Nóra was kidnapped, because she had mental and physical disabilities and could not have wandered off on her own.
Nóra, from London, was born with holoprosencephaly, a disorder that affects brain development.
Her head teacher Michael Reeves, of Garratt Park School in Wandsworth, said the teenager had "balance issues" and it would be "unimaginable" for her to climb fences.
He told the inquest that Nóra had had difficulties with "holding balance and posture" and had "weak core muscles".
Mr Reeves said he saw her daily, "at lunchtimes and in the playground", and had taught her several times when covering classes for a colleague.
The 59-year-old told the inquest that he felt if Nóra had been alone in the dark she would have stopped to "shout for her parents" and "stay still wherever she was".
He added: "She would have found it [walking over rough terrain] exceptionally difficult even over a short distance.
"The idea of Nóra climbing over fencing is unimaginable.
"She might have climbed over something a foot or so high, but no more than that."
Mr Reeves said the teenager would not have had "the confidence to walk off by herself".
"Physically she was one of the most vulnerable pupils in the school, because of her balance issues," Mr Reeves said.
"Nóra's gait was quite fragile."
The inquest continues.
