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Q: News article on the death of Jane Keeble ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: News article on the death of Jane Keeble
Category: Reference, Education and News > General Reference
Asked by: cooltankstm-ga
List Price: $20.00
Posted: 21 Nov 2006 08:53 PST
Expires: 21 Dec 2006 08:53 PST
Question ID: 784532
I'm looking for any contemporary news cuttings covering the death of
Jane Keeble in a road traffic accident somewhere near Darwin in the
mid to late 90s.

The death (which was possibly suspicious) was covered in the UK
Observer newspaper at the time but I can no longer find any reference.

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 21 Nov 2006 10:47 PST
There are a small number of articles available on this incident,
cheifly in Australian news sources.

However, the articles are only available through subscription
services.  I can provide citations for the articles, and summarize
them briefly, but cannot post the full articles themselves.

Will that suit your needs?

pafalafa-ga

Clarification of Question by cooltankstm-ga on 21 Nov 2006 10:51 PST
Citations would be great, thanks.

Clarification of Question by cooltankstm-ga on 21 Nov 2006 13:26 PST
...and the summaries, also.
Answer  
Subject: Re: News article on the death of Jane Keeble
Answered By: pafalafa-ga on 21 Nov 2006 14:37 PST
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Thanks for getting back to me on this.

Jane Keeble was the maiden name of Jane Mahoney, the sister of British
MP Sally Keeble.  Ms. Mahoney died in an accident in Darwin, Australia
in 1999, under very confused circumstances.  Sally Keeble travelled to
Darwin to participate in an inquest in her sister's death.

By searching a number of subscription news databases, I was able to
turn up some of the key coverage of this story.  Here are citations,
brief excerpts and some summary remarks from these sources:





[This article tells of the accident -- how a Hell's Angel who claims
he blacked out at the wheel of his vehicle, hit Jane Mahoney, who was
sitting roadside after her vehicle broke down.  The Hell's Angel then
left the scene.  Australian police boggled the investigation, among
other things, not information the driver of his rights, and can't make
use of much of the evidence they collected as a result.  Jane's sister
is Sally Keeble, a British MP.]


The Observer
November 21, 1999

Tragedy of diplomat's daughter;
Death in the Outback: Family pleads for Hell's Angel to be prosecuted
after killing couple.


...Jane Mahoney, daughter of a well-to-do English family, was being
taken home to start a new professional life...But what greeted her and
her Australian husband on a lonely road in the Outback was violent
death. The Hell's Angel who killed them will almost certainly escape
unpunished. The shock of having his youngest daughter killed so
suddenly, and so far from her homeland, has caused Jane's 75-year-old
father, Sir Curtis Keeble once one of Britain's leading diplomats and
a former BBC governor a heart attack. Now, 16 months later, the
family's distress has been compounded by the inability of the
Australian police to call the culprit to account.

...Jane's sister, Sally Keeble, Labour MP for Northampton North, said:
'There doesn't seem to be anything else the family can do, except seek
publicity. It seems the police have given up.'





Manchester Evening News
May 2, 2000

[untitled]
...LABOUR MP Sally Keeble today quizzed witnesses at an Australian
inquest into her sister's death. Jane Mahoney, and Keeble's
brother-in-law, Anthony Mahoney, were mown down in July 12 1998, near
Darwin as Mr Mahoney changed a flat tyre. The alleged driver has never
been charged and the Keeble family is not satisfied with the police
investigation.




[This article covers Sally Keeble appearance at an Australian inquest,
but did not offer up any new facts]
AAP NEWSFEED
May 2, 2000
Nationwide General News; Australian General News
British MP in Darwin court

...British MP Sally Keeble appeared remarkably composed in Darwin's
Magistrate's court today as she questioned a witness about her
sister's death.




[More about the alleged police foul-ups]
Northern Territory News (Australia)
May 4, 2000
Fatal crash: man not breath-tested

...A man who allegedly told three police officers at a fatal crash
scene he was the driver of one of the cars was not "cautioned" or
breath-tested, an inquest heard yesterday.

...Police witnesses said the man probably was not breath-tested
because there was a two-hour limit on doing a full breath analysis.

...He had returned to the scene after about two hours after apparently
seeking help from the Darwin River Rocks music festival.




Northern Territory News (Australia)
May 5, 2000
Cox deaths: alleged driver stays silent

...A man alleged to have been the driver of a utility which hit and
killed two people on the Cox Peninsula Rd refused to answer questions
at an inquest yesterday.





[Despite the headline, this article merely adds to the confusion over
the events of the accident, calling into question who was actually
driving the vehicle involved]
Northern Territory News (Australia)
May 6, 2000
Inquest evidence satisfies Brit MP

...British MP Sally Keeble said yesterday she was satisfied that the
death of her sister and her sister's husband on the Cox Peninsula Rd
had been fully investigated...She told reporters after a four-day
inquest she had no criticism of the police or prosecuting authorities.

...But Cant added that Mr Climas had given a number of versions of the
event -- that he was the driver, was not the driver, was driving with
someone else in the car, was on his own, was a passenger and had been
asked to say he was driving and would be "looked after" if he did
so..."An intelligent person would not believe that Climas was driving
that car."

...Ms Keeble said in submissions to the court before returning to the
UK: "I am absolutely certain that any evidence which could be
presented has been presented."




[This is probably the most comprehensive summary of events, weaving
together (as much as possible) the hazy events of the accident and the
investigation that followed]
AAP NEWSFEED
May 7, 2000
Brit MP fears sisters death caused by Hells Angel associate

...Ms Keeble has spent the past week in court bent over papers that
painstakingly document the mysterious car accident in July 1998 that
killed her sister Jane Mahoney and brother-in-law, Anthony, while they
were fixing a tyre by the side of a quiet road outside Darwin.

...No one was found responsible for the accident even though
27-year-old Jason Climas admitted to police to being the driver at the
time.

...In Britain, Jane's family's suffering was compounded by deep
confusion about what had happened to her and her husband - they had
been on their way back to their house outside Darwin when their car
blew a tyre.

..."We were left not knowing ... hearing a number of bizarre and
contradictory stories", Ms Keeble told AAP after finishing her week in
court.




[This article argues it was more the prosecution's fault than the police]
Northern Territory News (Australia)
May 20, 2000
Cops 'not at fault in road kill case'

...Charges against the driver of a utility which killed two people on
the Cox Peninsula Rd were dismissed because of the prosecution case,
Darwin Coroners Court was told yesterday.

...Barrister John Lawrence, counsel for the NT Police Force said it
was not true Jason Terry Wayne Climas had "avoided his just desserts
because police failed to issue a caution ...".

...Mr Lawrence said the charges were dismissed because the prosecution
had insufficient evidence to establish that Climas was the driver.



I trust these excerpts will meet your needs.  But if there's anything
more I can do for you, just let me know by posting a Request for
Clarification, and I'll be gald to assist you further.


pafalafa-ga
cooltankstm-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
Thank you very much - Jane was a very good friend of mine and this has
been worrying me for quite a while.

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