An inquest into the deaths of three Aboriginal people in regional New South Wales has found that homemade alcohol, commonly known as "moonshine", contributed to their deaths.
Sandra Boney, 40, her brother Norman Boney, 46, and partner Roger Adams, 37, all died within a month of each other between January and February last year after consuming homemade moonshine that contained methanol.
All three lived at Walli Reserve, an Aboriginal community outside the small northwestern NSW town of Collarenebri.
In her findings, coroner Helen Barry found the trio had been admitted to hospital "as a result of ingestion of methanol", which contributed to their deaths.
Methanol is a colourless, highly flammable, and volatile liquid. A small amount of methanol can have a disastrous impact on a person's health and can lead to blindness and death.
The inquest found there was a black market of homemade alcohol in the area being run by Mary Miller, a local shop owner. Miller is accused of making homemade alcohol on her property and then selling it to the local Aboriginal community, including the deceased.
Following Sandra Boney's death, police attended Miller's property and found crates of homemade alcohol.
Several Aboriginal community members told the inquest that they had bought moonshine from Miller.
“Mary targeted people with alcoholism – she targeted people with an addiction and disease – it was our people that were affected by it,” Lavinia Flick, a relative of Roger Adams, told the inquest.
Amy Bennett, Adams' niece, told the inquest she had bought a bottle of moonshine in a Bundaberg Rum bottle for $50 at Miller's store.
Bennett says after drinking it her arms went numb “like pins and needles” and she had chest pains.
Aboriginal woman Margaret Boney says she bought moonshine from Miller and shared it with the victims on several occasions.
"Margaret stated that Ms Miller had sold her alcohol on more than 10 occasions. There were about two boxes of large bottles and between 10-20 boxes of smaller bottles," the inquest's final report reads.
"Mary Miller was considered by many persons at Walli Reserve to be a friend. That is simply not the case. Mary Miller sold for profit contaminated alcohol to vulnerable members of the community," the coroner said.
Miller has denied selling the moonshine, the ABC reports.