9News slammed after 'inadvertent error' during inquest coverage of Tamworth teen

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name and images of an Indigenous person who has died.

9News has been forced to issue a correction and remove all reports of a news broadcast containing what appeared to be historical vision of a crime scene during a bulletin about the coronial inquest into the death of Mark Anthony Haines.

The 17-year-old was found dead on the train tracks on the outskirts of Tamworth in January 1988.

The footage, which depicted police surrounding what appeared to be a body covered by a tarp in the middle of a train track aired on April 8, 2024, hours after the second coronial inquest into the Gomeroi teenager's death opened in Tamworth.

The footage was brought to the attention of the inquest by family members of Mark who the Leader understands had never seen the vision before.

The vision, which also showed a train stopped on the railway tracks, was shown to a witness during the inquest who confirmed the footage was not taken from the scene in Tamworth on the day of Mark's death on January 16, 1988.

Former assistant station master Glenn Bryant, who was the first person to locate the 17-year-old's body after it was struck by the train, told the inquest from the witness box he did not recognise himself in the footage, and a number of details about the police uniforms and the train shown in the clip were inconsistent with what occurred on the day.

In a correction issued by 9News a spokesperson said the "inadvertent error" occurred during the production process of the news report.

"The report included some historical vision of a different crime scene," the statement said.

"Upon becoming aware of the error, 9News immediately took steps to remove the report from any places it appeared online."

The correction said 9News "sincerely and unreservedly" apologies for any distress caused to Mark's family and friends.

After the footage was shown during the inquest, Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame told Mark's family she was "very sorry" they had to see the footage.

"It seems like that footage has nothing to do with this investigation," Ms Grahame said.

"I'm sorry that's happened, I really am."

Ms Grahame said the inquest process for Mark's family, who have been waiting more than 36 years to find out what happened to the teenager, would have been "difficult enough".

The inquest is expected to run for two weeks in Tamworth and will focus on how Mark ended up on the train tracks, and in what condition,

An original inquest held in 1988 returned an open finding.