John Abernethy (judge)

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]