| John Abernethy | |
| Honorific-Prefix: | His Honour Magistrate |
| Order: | State Coroner of New South Wales |
| Term Start: | 2000 |
| Term End: | 2007 |
| Appointer: | Bob Debus |
| Predecessor: | Derrick Hand |
| Successor: | Mary Jerram |
| Birth Place: | Wagga Wagga |
| Profession: | Coroner, Magistrate |
John Birley Abernethy[1] (born 1947 in Wagga Wagga, Australia) is a former State Coroner of New South Wales.
John Birley Abernethy was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales in 1947.[2] His father, Robert Neil Abernethy,[3] was a bank officer; and his mother was a registered nurse.[2] He has a younger sister, Myra who suffered from an illness which resulted in the family's relocating from rural New South Wales to Epping, a northern suburb of Sydney.[2]
Abernethy attended Epping Public School and Epping Boys' High School.[2] He completed the Leaving Certificate with strong results, allowing him to matriculate to university.[2] In his final year of high school, he was elected a prefect of the school.[2]
Abernethy earned a Graduate Diploma in Law, by correspondence, from the Bar Admission Board via the Law Extension Committee of the University of Sydney (BAB; now Legal Profession Admission Board (LPAB)).[4]
After leaving high school, In 1965, Abernethy joined the (then) Petty Sessions Branch of the New South Wales Department of Attorney General and Justice,[2] [5] where he worked until he became a Stipendiary Magistrate in 1984.[2] For three years after his appointment as a Stipendiary Magistrate, Abernethy sat as a Relieving Magistrate and, later, as a Magistrate at Fairfield and Parramatta Local Courts.[2]
In 1975, Abernethy was admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales as a Barrister-at-Law.[5]
In 1971, Abernethy was appointed Coroner for the State of New South Wales.[5]
In 1984, Abernethy was appointed a Stipendiary Magistrate for New South Wales; a year later, he was appointed a Magistrate for New South Wales under the Local Courts Act 1982 (NSW),[5] as a Magistrate of the Local Court of New South Wales.[2]
In 1994, Abernethy was appointed New South Wales Deputy State Coroner; in 1996, he was appointed New South Wales Senior Deputy State Coroner; and, in 2000, he was appointed State Coroner of New South Wales.[2] [5] During his tenure as State Coroner, his office oversaw the inquest into the death of Vanessa Anderson; the inquest itself was presided over by Deputy State Coroner Carl Milovanovich.[6]
Abernethy presided over the inquest into the death of Tegan Lane, the daughter of Australian water polo player Keli Lane.[7]
Following his retirement, Abernethy has commented on the car pursuits by the New South Wales Police Force, arguing in favour of them to prevent the escape of criminals.[8]
In 2005, Abernethy was detected to have exceeded the legal speed limit of 40 km/h while driving in a school zone, resulting in the suspension of his driver's licence.[9]
Although born to and raised in a Presbyterian family, Abernethy left the church as a young man.[2] In later life, he converted to Roman Catholicism.[2]
Abernethy lives in West Pennant Hills, New South Wales.[3]