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A grieving mother confronted the man responsible for her daughter’s death, declaring in court that she could never forgive him for taking her vibrant and courageous child away.
During proceedings at the Victorian Supreme Court, 23-year-old Lachlan Young averted his gaze as Debbie McGuire, mother of the late Hannah McGuire, delivered her emotional impact statement.
“I hope the accused endures the most excruciating pain imaginable every single day for the rest of his life,” Mrs. McGuire declared, directing her words at Young.
“Forgiveness is beyond my reach, and forgetting is impossible,” she asserted.
Young initially refuted accusations of murdering his former girlfriend, contending that her death in April 2024 was not premeditated but a tragic accident.
But eight days into his Supreme Court trial, he pleaded guilty to murder.
Young now admits he strangled McGuire in the bathroom of their Sebastopol home about 2.30am on April 5.
He then shoved her body into the footwell of her Mitsubishi Triton, drove it to remote bushland and set the vehicle alight.
As he left the scene, Young used McGuire’s phone to send messages to her mother Debbie, claiming she was going to take her life.
He then transferred $2000 from McGuire’s bank account to her mother and $5000 to himself.
When Debbie McGuire went to Young’s house in a panic, he claimed he had not seen her daughter and feigned surprise at the messages.
After he was arrested on April 7, Young told officers he would “never f—ing harm that girl”.
But crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill told the court the lies and the murder followed months of controlling and abusive behaviour.
McGuire had taken out intervention orders against Young and was separating from him when he killed her, Churchill said.
Debbie McGuire said she would have to live with the profound grief, pain and loss for the rest of her life.
“Unlike the accused, Hannah mattered,” she said.
“She was important and loved and brought to this world things no one else could.”
Hannah’s father Glenn McGuire told the court he could never escape his grief, knowing he was meant to protect his daughter.
“I was supposed to be there to guide her and to support her to grow into the incredible woman she was becoming,” the statement read.
“Instead, I had to bury her. I had to pick out a coffin instead of a graduation or a wedding dress.”
Ms McGuire’s aunty Michelle Smith broke down as she confronted Young, saying her heart was shattered into pieces.
“(Young) sat at our Christmas table and received gifts from us,” she told the court.
“I’m angry I treated him decently.
“I’m angry that because of him I will never spend another Christmas with Hannah, I will never be able to wish her another happy birthday.”
Fifteen statements were read to the court from Ms McGuire’s family and friends on Monday, with Young’s barrister Glenn Casement then to plead his case before Justice James Elliott
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