New Australian inquest into 'dingo' baby death 
 
 SYDNEY — A new inquest will be opened into the death of baby Azaria Chamberlain, according to reports, 31 years after she was apparently taken by a dingo at Ayers Rock in a case that caused a worldwide sensation. 
 
 Northern Territory coroner Elizabeth Morris has cited new information from the Chamberlains' counsel about dingo attacks as a reason for reopening the inquiry, the Sun-Herald newspaper said on Sunday. 
 
 Azaria was just nine weeks old when she went missing on August 17, 1980 during a camping trip to Ayers Rock, or Uluru, the evocative red monolith in the heart of Australia's Outback. Her body was never found. 
 
 The case inspired the 1988 hit film "A Cry in the Dark", starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill, along with books, a TV mini-series and even an opera, and was followed closely by foreign media, making it a global cause celebre. 
 
 Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, was jailed for murder, despite an initial inquest which backed her explanation the baby was snatched by a dingo, Australia's native wild dog. The body was never found. 
 
 The convictions of Chamberlain and her then husband Michael, who was given a suspended term for being an accessory, were overturned in 1988 after the chance find of a piece of Azaria's clothing near a dingo lair. 
 
 A third inquest in 1995 recorded an open finding, in a case that continues to fascinate the Australian public. 
 
 Morris, the coroner, said she was reopening the inquiry "largely in relation to information provided by your (the Chamberlains') counsel about dingo attacks since the death of Azaria". 
 
 The newspaper said the information was understood to include an account of attacks by dingoes on children at Fraser Island in Queensland state, which included a fatal attack on a nine-year-old boy in 2001. 
 
 Michael Chamberlain said he and Lindy had campaigned for a new inquest to establish that Azaria had been taken by a dingo. 
 
 "We believe that new evidence will indicate that dingoes can in fact kill babies," he was quoted as saying. "I trust that the truth will now be determined." 
 
 The inquest is due to open on February 24. 
 
 Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ||||| In a case that divided the nation and inspired the film A Cry in the Dark, the baby's mother, Lindy Chamberlain, was convicted and jailed for life after a jury refused to believe her claim that a dingo stole her baby from a tent near Uluru, or Ayers Rock, in 1980. 
 
 However, the conviction prompted a community campaign and was overturned in 1988 following a royal commission. But the cause of death has remained open. 
 
 In a surprising twist, the Northern Territory Coroner agreed to open a new inquest after the Chamberlains presented information about "dingo attacks since the death of Azaria". 
 
 The information reportedly includes an account of attacks by dingoes on children at Fraser Island in Queensland, including an incident in 2001 in which two dingoes mauled a 9-year-old boy to death. 
 
 In another incident in 2007, a four-year-old girl was badly injured after she was bitten by a dingo on the same island. 
 
 Lindy Chamberlain's plight, depicted by Meryl Streep in the 1988 film, divided the nation. 
 
 Some sympathised with her loss and subsequent treatment through the courts; others regarded her as cold and refused to accept that a dingo would snatch a baby. 
 
 An initial inquest in 1981 found that a dingo took the baby, but a second inquest in 1982 found that Lindy Chamberlain should be tried for murder and that her husband Michael should be charged as an accessory. A third inquest in 1995 returned an open verdict. 
 
 The new inquest is due to begin on February 24. 
 
 Michael Chamberlain said he and Lindy, from whom he has since been divorced, hoped to establish forever that Azaria was taken by a dingo. 
 
 "I am incredibly gratified," he told ABC Radio. "It's been 31 years now and I just hope this time it will be the ultimate verdict which we've been looking for, for this length of time." ||||| MICHAEL Chamberlain has hailed the reopening of an inquest into the death of his daughter Azaria at Uluru in 1980. 
 
 “I'm really just pleasantly surprised about this and I'm incredibly gratified,” Mr Chamberlain told ABC radio. 
 
 “It's been 31 years now and I just hope, well I'm sure this time it will be the ultimate verdict which we've been looking for, for this length of time.” 
 
 The new inquest is expected to begin in February. 
 
 Northern Territory Coroner Elizabeth Morris has cited new information for reopening the inquest into the death of Azaria, who was nine weeks old when she disappeared from her parents' tent at Uluru. 
 
 Ms Morris is reopening the inquiry mainly because of information provided by the Chamberlains' legal counsel regarding dingo attacks since Azaria's disappearance, Fairfax reports. 
 
 Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murdering Azaria and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1982, while her then-husband Michael was given a suspended sentence after being found guilty of being an accessory after the fact. 
 
 A subsequent royal commission exonerated the Chamberlains in 1987. Their convictions were quashed but a further coroner's inquest in 1995 delivered an open verdict. 
 
 Additional reporting: AAP
– A fresh turn in the spotlight for an infamous, three-decade-old case: Australia will conduct a fourth inquest into the death of Azaria Chamberlain, who disappeared in 1980 in the Australian outback; her mother famously said that a dingo took the nine-week-old child from their tent. Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton was found guilty of murder in 1982 and sentenced to life in prison; that conviction was later overturned after a piece of Azaria's clothing was found near a dingo den, notes the AFP; the child's body was never found. The Australian reports that the case is being reopened because new information about recent dingo attacks was given to the Northern Territory coroner by the Chamberlains' lawyers. Among the included incidents, as noted by the Telegraph: a 9-year-old boy was mauled to death in 2001 by two dingoes, and a four-year-old girl was harmed in 2007. The new inquest will begin on Feb. 24.