Shocking verdict in the d3:ath of 2 Australian teens in Laos: Parents crushed as those responsible receive ‘meager’ punishment
Parents of a young woman who died from methanol poisoning in Laos have revealed their heartache over a lack of criminal charges relating to the deaths of their daughter and her friend.
Melbourne teens Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19, died after consuming drinks containing the deadly alcohol while staying at a hostel in the tourist town Vang Vieng in November 2024.
Those responsible for the deaths are likely to receive a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a collective fine of $1600.
They are not even expected to be charged with breaching hygiene laws, which would add five years to the sentence.
Holly’s parents, Samantha Morton and Shaun Bowles, said they were crushed to learn of the light punishment.
“I don’t even think devastated is a strong enough word. It just crushes you,” Morton told Sunrise on Friday.
“It just crushed me.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said of the correspondence with the Laos Government: “The explanation provided suggested the Prosecutor does not consider they have sufficient evidence to establish the necessary legal link between the Tiger alcohol and the deaths of Holly and Bianca.”
Bowles said action from the Australian Government is the family’s “last hope” for “real accountability”.
“We’ve done everything we can from our end and we haven’t got any more triggers to pull.
“We’re relying on the government to exhaust every avenue that they can, because there is nothing more from our end that we see we can do. We’re just hoping that they can step in.”
A government spokesperson told Sunrise: “We understand this news will only add to the immense pain and grief suffered by the families and friends of Holly and Bianca.”
“The Australian Government is deeply disappointed that authorities in Laos are not pursuing the most serious charges.”
Morton told Sunrise her idea of justice would be “a manslaughter charge, ideally, and holding those (responsible for the deaths) accountable.”
“Someone made a decision and I want that person to be held accountable and to be brought to justice accordingly,” she said.
‘Absolutely horrific’
Morton-Bowles and Jones were just two of the six people who died in the mass poisoning. An American man, two Danish women and a British woman also died, and more people were hospitalised after the incident.
Bowles revealed the family has had virtually no direct communication with Laos authorities since the tragedy.
“From day dot, we’ve had no communication, direct communication from the Laos government. We’ve had one meeting with their ambassador in Canberra, but apart from that, there’s been nothing from them. It is absolutely horrific,” Bowles said.
Acting Foreign Minister Mark Butler criticised a lack of accountability and transparency from Laos on the “absolute travesty, absolute tragedy.”
“We’ve been really clear with the Laos authorities that we expected transparency and, importantly, accountability.
“If they didn’t have the resources to investigate — this is a very poor country — we offered our own federal police to go over there and assist with gathering the evidence that would ground a proper prosecution to ensure that people were held accountable for the loss of these innocent young lives.
“This news is devastating, most importantly for Holly and Bianca’s parents and families and friends, but I think for all Australians because we’ve argued so strongly for that accountability.
“I want to assure Australians that we feel as deeply about this lack of accountability and transparency as everyone else does.
“It is frankly not in the interest of Laos itself. What parents now are going to let their young people go on this coming-of-age trip to that country when authorities have shown such a lack of interest and accountability and transparency?”
Deputy Opposition leader Jane Hume also said on Sunrise that “any parent who waves their children off at the airport expects them to come home safe and well, and if they don’t, if something goes horribly wrong, they expect their government to step up.”
Sunrise host Nat Barr asked Butler whether the foreign aid Australia gives to Laos would now be reviewed.
Australia gives Laos up to $60 million of aid each year, and Butler said, “that sort of foreign aid is intended to prevent these sorts of things happening, not only to lift people out of poverty … but to introduce the sort of systems of transparency and accountability that we want to see in every country in our region.”
Government moves to secure justice
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have asked special envoy Pablo Kang to travel to Laos on Friday.
Wong said Kang will be sent “to convey the Australian Government’s objections and reinforce our expectations for an investigation that delivers justice for Holly, Bianca, and the other victims of the methanol poisoning.”
“The Acting Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has also called in Laos’ Ambassador this morning in Canberra.”
“Next week I will again put Australia’s views directly to my Lao counterpart when I travel to Manila for the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings.”
Laos authorities are set to hold a press conference later on Friday, and Butler said the government would have “more to say after that”.
SOURCE: 7 NEWS
https://7news.com.au/news/parents-of-teen-poisoned-in-laos-crushed-over-lack-of-justice-as-government-steps-in-c-22590303
