28/10/2025
When Glenn and Debbie McGuire faced their daughter’s killer in court on Monday, their words laid bare a grief no parent should ever have to know.
Glenn described Hannah as “the light of my life.” He told the court, “The accused took everything away from her and all of us.”
He said it was meant to be his job to protect her, guide her, and watch her grow into the woman she was becoming – but instead, he was forced to bury her.
“I had to pick out a coffin instead of a graduation or wedding dress,” he said. “I will never hear her laugh again. I will never get another hug or a simple ‘I love you, Dad.’”
Debbie called her daughter “more than just my daughter – she was my best friend.” She said the day she learned Hannah was gone, she screamed so loudly, “it echoed across the town.”
Looking at the man responsible, she said he “treated her like discarded trash” and that he “destroyed every part of her being.”
“He took away my right to view her body and say a proper goodbye,” she said. “The hurt I carry every day is so heavy that it is crippling.”
Her final message to her daughter still haunts her – “Come home to mum” and “I love you.”
Hannah McGuire, aged just 23, was strangled in the bathroom of her Sebastopol home by her ex-boyfriend, Lachlan Young, who then burned her body and sent fake su***de messages from her phone.
These are two parents left with nothing but memories – and the unbearable weight of knowing their daughter’s kindness and future were stolen in one night of violence. 💔
