June Woo’s two daughters had pursued court cases questioning the cause of her death in 2002 but court of appeal denies latest request and orders funeral

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Two grieving sisters will be forced to say goodbye to their Brisbane mother after spending 13 years delaying her burial.

June Woo’s body has languished in the state morgue and a funeral home while her daughters, Helena and Catherine Yu, pursued court cases questioning her cause of death at the Princess Alexandra hospital in November 2002.

The 82-year-old’s body is in such a poor state that the sisters have been told it was inappropriate for them to view her before the funeral.

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The saga was described as “terribly sad” by court of appeal Justice Hugh Fraser when he denied the sisters’ latest refusal to bury their mother.

They had challenged a supreme court decision that ordered the justice department’s chief executive to arrange a Catholic burial for June Woo.

“There is no legal merit in the [sisters’] proposed appeal,” Fraser said on Friday.

“The effect of a stay would be simply to defer the burial.”

An autopsy found June Woo died from abnormally high levels of potassium stemming from acute renal failure, and lung disease was also a significant factor.

But her daughters were not satisfied and petitioned for an inquest, which agreed with the autopsy and rejected the claim that their mother’s hospital treatment had been inappropriate.

When the sisters’ request for a review of the inquest was dismissed, they took their case to the supreme court alleging hospital staff gave medicine that caused or hastened their mother’s death.

They lost and filed an unsuccessful appeal in March 2011, a month after the coroner released Woo’s body to a funeral home.

But the sisters refused to let them bury her, claiming she was without her organs.

“Particular concerns which they expressed were that the deceased’s organs had not been returned to the body or those organs with the body may not be organs of the deceased,” Fraser said.

“They requested X-ray testing and DNA testing to allay their concerns.”

That was despite being told several times that all organs had been returned.

In their latest legal challenge, the sisters raised issues about burial arrangements such as drainage at the site and what clothes their mother should be buried in.

These were matters for the chief executive of the justice department to consider, Fraser said.

He also said it was not appropriate for the sisters to view their mother’s body because of its state.

“However ... the applicants would have an opportunity at the funeral to say goodbye to their mother, which they understandably wish to do,” he said.