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The heartbroken mother of Grace Millane has revealed she is serving a ‘life sentence’ over her daughter’s sickening Tinder date murder.
Grace was brutally killed by Jesse Kempson, who she met on the dating app, on the eve of her 22nd birthday while backpacking in New Zealand five years ago.
A week-long search was launched for the young woman after she did not respond to her family’s birthday message on December 2, eventually discovered dead in the New Zealand bushland.
Grace’s mother Gillian Millane told the BBC this morning that she is ‘never going to see Grace in a wedding dress’ as she continues to grieve the loss of her daughter.
‘She was a lovely, family orientated girl. If she was your friend, she was your friend for life. She was my best friend and always, always wanted to travel,’ Gillian said.
‘She had such a bright future, and it was taken away from her, and taken away from us. I’m never going to see Grace in a wedding dress, I’m never having grandchildren from her. This is the life sentence I’ve got.’
Just two years after Grace’s death, Gillian also lost her husband David to cancer. The mother channeled her grief into physical challenges, receiving an OBE for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money to tackle domestic violence against women last year.
Grace Millane (pictured) was brutally killed her Tinder date on the eve of her 22nd birthday while backpacking in New Zealand five years ago
Grace’s mother Gillian Millane (pictured) told the BBC this morning that she is ‘never going to see Grace in a wedding dress’
Gillian received an OBE for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for charity last year
Heartbreaking footage shows Gillian breaking down into tears as she got to the top of the mountain and placed two stones down with Grace and David’s names on them.
Gillian and her family have since started a campaign called Love Grace, collecting donated handbags and filling them with toiletries for domestic abuse victims.
‘Ive not got over it, I never will get over it, but I just know that I’ve got to make the world a better place, and no other family has to go through what we went through, and what we go through, and that’s got to be a good thing,’ said Gillian.
Grace’s killer Kempson, then 26, claimed in court Grace’s death was an accident and that she had asked to be strangled during sex – but the jury saw through his lies and unanimously convicted him of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Gillian described Grace as a ‘lovely, family orientated girl’ today
Gillian and her family have started a campaign called Love Grace, collecting donated handbags and filling them with toiletries for domestic abuse victims
Gillian told the BBC her daughter Grace was her ‘best friend’
Jesse Kempson, then 26, was found guilty of murder after claiming Grace’s death was an accident during rough sex
Grace (right), pictured with her parents and two brothers before the trip which would result in her murder
Gillian has spent the last five years campaigning to change the law on the ‘rough sex’ defence, fundraising for charity and helping support victims of domestic abuse.
The mother credits her loved ones, long walks and ‘lots of counselling’ for surviving her ‘really dark time’.
She previously told the BBC: ‘I did contemplate suicide. That is a horrid place to be. But I couldn’t bring any more sadness to the family. Grace had such a bright future and it was taken away from her and us.
‘I will never see Grace in a wedding dress or see her grandchildren. This is a life sentence I’ve got. This is me until the day I die. But there is a light and I found it. You have to find that inner strength.’
