Govt, police seek ruling on legal issues in Anna Jenkins suit

The government and several police officers are seeking a High Court ruling on five legal questions before a negligence suit brought by the son of Anna Jenkins, whose remains were found at a Penang construction site in 2020, proceeds to trial.

Greg Jenkins is seeking damages from the police, government authorities and other parties, as well as a court order compelling the authorities to reopen the investigation into his mother’s death as a suspected murder case.

He filed the suit in August 2023, initially naming the government, police, Berjaya Land Development Sdn Bhd, its project manager Terrence Theseira, and landscape worker Kew Kee Seng as defendants.

However, on Sept 25, 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling striking out Berjaya Land and Theseira from the negligence suit.

The latest application seeks an early determination of five questions of law that the remaining defendants say could resolve or narrow the issues in dispute.

Azrul Azizan Mat Rawi, one of the police officers named as a defendant, has affirmed an affidavit supporting the application by the fourth to eighth defendants.

The defendants are relying on Orders 14A and 33 of the Rules of Court 2012 to seek a determination of the legal questions before a full trial.

One of the questions is whether the police owe a duty of care to a missing person or her family when investigating a disappearance, and whether an allegedly inadequate investigation can give rise to claims of negligence or breach of statutory duty.

The court has also been asked to determine whether the alleged failures could support claims of misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in public office.

Another question is whether the failure to locate a missing person, establish the cause of death or identify a suspected perpetrator is sufficient to establish the causal link required for a claim for damages.