Hannah McGuire’s parents give evidence in Ballarat murder trial

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A warning this report contains details of domestic violence. A Supreme Court jury has heard emotional testimony from the parents of a young woman killed in regional Victoria last year. Hannah McGuire’s ex-partner is on trial for her murder after his offer of a deal to plead guilty to manslaughter was rejected.

Transcript

00:00Hannah Maguire's parents Debbie and Glenn Maguire told jurors their daughter's ex-partner Lachlan

00:06Young was a problem drinker with a temper who did not treat their daughter well. The 23-year-old

00:12was arrested last year after Ms. Maguire was reported missing by her family, her body later

00:17found in a burnt-out vehicle southwest of Ballarat. Mr. Young has admitted to killing Ms. Maguire and

00:23dumping her body in bushland but denies he did so with murderous intent. He's pleaded not guilty to

00:29murder after an offer to plead guilty to manslaughter was rejected. During testimony yesterday Ms.

00:35Maguire's mother described several hysterical phone calls for help from a 23-year-old daughter during

00:41violent episodes from Mr. Young. In one instance the court heard how Mrs. Maguire tried to calm her

00:46daughter down while Mr. Young pursued her in a car and tried to run her off the road. Mrs. Maguire

00:52also told the court how a heavily intoxicated Mr. Young used an angle grinder to hack a canopy off

00:58her daughter's car, pulled wires out from under the bonnet and punched the vehicle all while she

01:03was trying to retrieve her belongings from the home they shared. Glenn Maguire broke down while

01:07detailing his attempts to help his daughter escape her relationship with Mr. Young. This included

01:13assisting her to break into her own home through a bathroom window because Mr. Young had confiscated

01:18his daughter's keys. We also heard about a string of text messages and a bank transfer sent from Ms.

01:24McGuire's phone by Mr. Young to her parents in the hours after she was killed that the prosecution said

01:30was an attempt to stage her death as a suicide.

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