Grace Millane death: Man who murdered British backpacker in New Zealand jailed for life

‘The sentence will not change the fact that Grace is gone,’ cousin says

The man who murdered British backpacker Grace Millane in New Zealand has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 17 years.

The 28-year-old killer, who still cannot be named for legal reasons, strangled Millane in an Auckland hotel room while on a Tinder date in December 2018.

His sentencing at Auckland High Court began with Millane’s family remembering her as a “beautiful soul who had the drive and passion to set the world alight”.

Her mother Gillian Millane told the killer he had “taken my daughter’s future and robbed us of so many memories that we were going to create”.

Speaking to the court via video-link next to a picture of her daughter, Ms Millane told him she had wanted to take her own life because of the pain he had caused.

“Grace wasn’t just my daughter. She was my friend. My very best friend,” Ms Millane said. “The tears I shed are never-ending at the thought of never having the chance to kiss my Grace goodbye.

“She died terrified and alone in a room with you ... all her dreams and aspirations taken.”

Millane met her killer on the eve of her 22nd birthday, during a planned year-long backpacking trip after graduating from the University of Lincoln.

The killer claimed to the jury she had died accidentally during “rough sex”, but prosecutors said he committed the murder deliberately to fulfill a “morbid sexual interest”.

He took seven “trophy” photographs of her body and, after stuffing her body into a suitcase, went on a second date with another woman the next day. He then disposed of Millane’s body in a shallow grave in the bush outside Auckland.

At the sentencing on Friday morning – months after the killer was convicted in November – Justice Simon Moore said the photos the man took of Millane after her death underscored his total lack of empathy toward her.

Justice Moore sentenced him to one of the longest stretches ever handed down to a murderer in New Zealand, 1NEWS said.

Ahead of the decision, Millane’s cousin indicated she did not expect the sentencing would bring closure.

“We’ve lost Grace,” Hannah O’Callaghan, told BBC Breakfast on Thursday. “The sentence will not change the fact that Grace is gone.”

Speaking at the sentencing, Millane’s older brother Declan described his sister as a “beautiful soul who had the drive and passion to set the world alight”.

“It’s tough to carry on life as normal following the destruction of my family,” he said. “This person did not just take Grace’s life but he took away a piece of my life as well.”

Millane’s murder drew global headlines worldwide amid an outpouring of shock and grief, not least in New Zealand.

Her killer’s insistence that he had choked her consensually, and his lawyer’s attempts to use details of her relationship history to paint her death as an accident also sparked furious calls for vital changes to the law to combat the rise of the so-called “rough sex” defence.

Her family have set up a campaign in her memory, called Love Grace x, which has received hundreds of donations of handbags and toiletries for domestic abuse victims.

Ms O’Callaghan described the project as “incredibly cathartic”, adding: “It’s brought us together as a family in a time of grief. We’re all talking together, we’re remembering Grace, we’re talking about day-to-day life.”

Additional reporting by agencies