

To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email or phone 020 7239 9857.Irwin pulls the barb out and he begins to lose consciousness. The footage shows Irwin swimming above a stingray before it flicks up its tail and plants a barb into his chest. The tapes have been held in a safe in the office of the Queensland police commissioner amid fears the footage could fetch up to $A1m on the black market and be posted on an internet pay-per-view site. The coroner's investigation into the death is almost completed and Mr Barnes will make a decision about an inquest after receiving the final police investigation.

Normally a copy would be held in government files but state coroner Michael Barnes told the Australian that copies showing a stingray goring Irwin had been destroyed and the original returned to his widow before Christmas.
