Family faces extra wait for answers over cheerleader’s high-rise death

An inquest into an NRL cheerleader’s high-rise death has been significantly delayed as a domestic violence expert is sought to examine dozens of statements related to the woman’s partner.

Breeana Elaine Stewart Robinson, 21, fell to her death from an 11th-storey Gold Coast balcony on January 29, 2013.

The Gold Coast Titans cheerleader was last seen alive by her partner, Jayden Daniel Moorea, who was in the apartment at the time, a coroner has been told.

But a 10-day inquest, planned for October, should be delayed until at least 2027, Queensland Deputy State Coroner Donald MacKenzie was told on Friday.

The court was still awaiting a full transcript from a previous criminal matter linked to Robinson’s death, said counsel assisting, Kim Bryson.

A review of DNA evidence in the wake of a commission of inquiry into forensic testing in Queensland was also outstanding.

The coroner suggested delaying the inquest to the second half of 2027 to obtain more funding for expert witnesses on domestic violence.

The names of academics and other experts had been put forward, but they were more or less statisticians, MacKenzie said.

“I really do think we need someone who is an expert in human behaviour, ideally a psychiatrist that specialises in domestic violence,” he said.

Finding that type of expert would be “very helpful” to the cheerleader’s family, their lawyer said.

“There are 69 statements from former partners of Mr Moorea whose evidence Your Honour will need to understand properly and comprehensively – and, of course, fairly to Mr Moorea,” barrister Matthew Hickey KC said.

Robinson’s family has challenged her partner’s account of her final moments and his claim to have witnessed her immediately after she apparently made her way over the balcony’s railing and started to fall.

The family held concerns that there was “third-party intervention”, MacKenzie has been told.

He was also told Moorea, now in his early 50s, was an “obvious suspect” as he was allegedly abusive towards Robinson and tried to access her bank account and superannuation following her death.

A police search of electronic devices belonging to Robinson and Moorea allegedly uncovered evidence of “abusive and derogatory text messages” and coercive control, stalking and surveillance-type behaviours, the coroner was told.

Moorea, formerly known as Dan Shearin, was charged in 2019 with Robinson’s murder but the case was dropped in 2023 before trial.

He has denied any involvement in the death of Robinson, who was almost 20 years his junior.

The coroner on Friday said delaying the inquest until after June 30 next year would make for a long wait, but he needed to get the right expert.

A pre-inquest conference will be held on February 5.

AAP

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