Matthew Leveson inquest: Coroner can’t say how or where he died

UPDATED: The parents of Matthew Leveson want to seee justice for their son, as long awaited inquest findings are delivered.

The findings in the Matthew Leveson inquest have finally been delivered.

MATTHEW Leveson’s parents wish they could see justice served for their son but they have the main thing they wanted from an inquest into his 2007 death: to bring him home.

Mark and Faye Leveson had mixed feelings on Tuesday after a coroner said she could not make a finding as to the cause and manner of the 20-year-old’s death in Sydney on September 23, 2007.

“There’s some relief, there’s some frustration, there’s some anger, so there’s lots of emotions going through us but relief’s one of the ones right now,” Mr Leveson told reporters outside Glebe Coroners Court.

Deputy state coroner Elaine Truscott delivered her findings this morning, more than eight years after Mr Leveson’s boyfriend Michael Atkins was acquitted of murder.

Ms Truscott said that for reasons unknown to her, Atkins had not taken the opportunity to provide answers about Mr Leveson’s death during his protected evidence at the inquest.

The 20-year-old was last seen leaving Darlinghurst’s ARQ nightclub with the much older Mr Atkins in September 2007.

‘Matt's the one that matters - Atkins doesn't matter’: Matthew Leveson’s parents speak outside court, after Coroner delivers open finding at inquest into his 2007 death. #TenNews pic.twitter.com/Vp47i3m0Gh

— TEN Eyewitness News (@channeltennews) December 5, 2017

Atkins, who in 2009 was acquitted of murdering Matthew by a Supreme Court jury, long denied any knowledge of his whereabouts.

He finally led police to his bones at a national park south of Sydney after striking a deal last year to avoid contempt and perjury charges. Police offered the 54-year-old the deal after he admitted lying during the investigation into Matthew’s disappearance and while giving evidence during the inquest.

Michael Atkins and Matthew Leveson.

He told them he decided to bury Matthew in bushland after finding him dead in their bedroom from a drug overdose.

Matthew’s parents Mark and Faye Leveson believe Atkins killed their son, possibly by strangulation or smothering.

Supporters began to sob in court as the open findings were delivered.

Although the family want justice, they say they achieved their main goal from the inquest — to find Matthew and bring him home.

“Our son was the most precious thing to us and to his brothers, why would we worry about Atkins,” Faye Leveson said on Tuesday.

“We would have loved both but we were forced in this corner, and Matty comes first every time.”

Coroner Truscott said lies told by Atkins meant she could not make a finding about how Mr Leveson died.

“Ultimately, the lies that Mr Atkins told during the course of his evidence to the inquest, as with other lies he had told, to a range of people, including the police, since Matt’s disappearance, give rise to a considerable degree of suspicion that Mr Atkins had some connection with Matt’s death apart from the fact that he buried Matt’s body. However, it does not follow from that degree of suspicion that I can find that Mr Atkins was involved in any acts which were causative of Matt’s death. The course of events in this inquest and the evidence upon which to make findings, is such that I am unable to positively determine – to the requisite standard – how or why Matt died.”

Matthew Leveson’s remains were found earlier this year.

Atkins was the only person who could provide the answers as to how Mr Leveson died and was given the opportunity to do so during his protected evidence at the inquest, she told the court.

“For reasons unknown to me, he did not take that opportunity,” Ms Truscott said, before adding the 54-year-old had not been a “witness of truth”.

The coroner said she therefore had to enter open findings in relation to both the manner and cause of Mr Leveson’s death.

Ms Truscott said Matt’s family had been “tireless” in their quest for justice in the 10 years since their son disappeared. She recommended the couple be given an official police commendation after they wore a wire in 2008 to speak to Mr Atkins.

Atkins had told police he panicked and buried Mr Leveson’s body in bushland south of Sydney after finding him dead in their Cronulla unit from a drug overdose.

Ms Truscott also said Atkins’s latest version of events had not been tested at the inquest.

More to come