Roebuck family not convinced about suicide theory

Unconvinced by police claims that Peter Roebuck committed suicide, the celebrated cricket writer's family is looking to ask for a second post-mortem of his body and has hired a British criminal lawyer to investigate the death.

According to a report in 'The Sydney Morning Herald', Roebuck's family, comprising his widowed mother and five siblings, is in no mood to buy the suicide theory.

"We need to obtain some facts," Roebuck's sister Beatrice Roebuck, told 'The Times'.

"Peter was on record as saying that he would never commit suicide and all the information we have is being played out in the media."

According to the police, Roebuck jumped to death from his sixth-floor hotel room after being questioned on sexual assault charges filed by a Zimbabwean man he met in South Africa while covering the Australian cricket team's tour there.

Beatrice said the family would ask for a second post-mortem.

"We are allowed to ask for that as members of his family and that is a standard part of our investigation. We are not coming to any conclusion straightaway, but we want our lawyer to look at the hotel room Peter was in and to find out where we stand with the investigations into his death," Beatrice said.

"The window arrangements in his hotel are questionable. A window in this kind of air-conditioned building is not easy to open. If it was open and Peter was sitting on the sill, he could have fallen out.

"Was he in the bathroom? We heard straightaway that his death was suicide, but conclusions were reached immediately and we do not have a coroner's report. Some lovely things have been written about Peter, but also some vile things. We want Peter's name to remain a good name," she added.

Roebuck's family say it is yet to get any information from the Cape Town police on the death.

"We are not aware of the post-mortem having finished or of any findings as yet, and the information on the internet is not clear," Beatrice said.