‘Norma’s’ family won’t give up fight for justice

THE family of a young mum who bled to death naked on a beach has begged the state’s top prosecutor to charge the two men with whom she had “wild” sex.

• VILE CREATURES LEFT ‘NORMA’ TO DIE

THE family of a young mum who bled to death naked on a beach has begged the state’s top prosecutor to charge the two men with whom she had “wild” drunken sex.

The 33-year-old woman, only identified as Norma, suffered shocking internal injuries but the Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC dropped charges laid by police against the two men over her death.

Norma’s sister said the family had to deal with seeing the two men — Adrian Attwater, 42, of Maclean, and Paul Maris, 46, of Tyndale — around the streets of their home town on the state’s north coast. The men told police they had “wild sex” in the back of Mr Maris’ vehicle but maintained it was consensual.

Adrian Attwater.

Paul Maris.

“I just have to hold it in when I see them,” the sister said. “Hopefully we can get justice.”

Mr Babb was asked to review his decision by ­Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton in February after The Daily Telegraph reported on the case. Three months after Norma’s death on January 27, 2011, police charged Mr Attwater with manslaughter and Mr Maris with being an accessory after the fact.

The DPP withdrew both charges in 2012 before they reached a committal hearing.

After an inquest in 2014, State Coroner Michael Barnes referred the men to the DPP, stating they likely had a case to answer but Mr Babb refused to charge them.

The Coroner said the men’s behaviour was callous and found there was evidence that would lead to a jury convicting them over Norma’s death. They had burned a blood-soaked mattress before seeking help after she died on a beach near Iluka. Mr Barnes found the men had lied about a number of things and said that with a blood-alcohol level of about .35, Norma would have been too drunk to consent to sex.

“We are not satisfied with the DPP, not real happy about it. We talk about it a lot,” her sister said. “She was a really nice, kind-hearted sweet person. We want to tell the DPP to charge these men.”

Ms Upton yesterday said the DPP was still working on the case.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the DPP said they wrote to Norma’s parents after deciding not to press charges.