Lachlan Young was sentenced to 28 years' jail for murdering Hannah McGuire in Ballarat.
Young, 23, killed Ms McGuire in April 2024, strangling her in their Sebastopol home before placing her body in her ute and setting it alight in bushland on Ballarat's outskirts.
Lachlan Young has been sentenced to 28 years' jail for killing his former partner, Hannah McGuire, in April 2024.
Young, 23, strangled Ms McGuire in their Sebastopol home, then placed her body in her ute and set it alight in bushland on Ballarat's outskirts, staging the scene to look like a suicide.
In the Supreme Court of Victoria this morning, Young was sentenced to 28 years' jail with a non-parole period of 22 years and four months.
The court heard Ms McGuire was finalising plans to leave Young permanently in the months before her death.
Young sat emotionless in the dock when his sentence was read to a packed court sitting, which included numerous members of the Clunes community and Ms McGuire's family.
About 100 people were estimated to have been in court to hear the verdict.
However, Young, wearing a black shirt, could be heard crying when Supreme Court Justice James Elliot gave his sentencing remarks.
Young has served 589 days of pre-sentence detention and will be eligible for parole in August 2046.
In Victoria, the standard sentence for murder is 25 years' jail, and the maximum penalty is life behind bars.
After Justice James Elliott handed down the sentence in the Ballarat court, dozens of Ms McGuire's supporters and loved ones turned to look silently at her killer.
Young could be heard crying and sniffing when Justice Elliott spoke of how the killer was visited by his sister in custody.
Justice Elliott described domestic violence as a "scourge" in Victoria.
"Murder is a gravely serious offence. You brutally murdered Ms McGuire in the home she shared with you," Justice Elliot said.
The court heard how over the course of their relationship, Young displayed domineering, controlling, and both physically and emotionally abusive behaviour toward Ms McGuire.
In one instance in February 2023, Young called Ms McGuire 129 times in one day.
Justice Elliot described the murderer's history of contravening domestic and family violence orders.
"[After her death] you actively sought to deflect suspicion away from yourself," he said.
"You disposed of her body, incinerated her body, faking that she was still alive, including transferring funds and sending heart-wrenching texts to her mother and herself to make it appear she committed suicide."
McGuire is remembered as special, kind, and giving.
Ms McGuire was described to the courtroom as "warm, special, talented, and giving".
She worked as a teacher's aide at the Delacombe Primary School.
She loved working with children.
"The level of emotion and heartache that you have caused to Hannah's family, friends, colleagues, and to the communities of Ballarat and Clunes more generally, cannot be overstated," Justice Elliott said.
"The immense suffering of so many touched by Hannah's murder is stark and still raw, including because you lied about the circumstances of her death."
Justice Elliott ultimately decreed that because of Young's age and later remorse, his prospects of rehabilitation were good.
The 23-year-old has undertaken treatment for alcohol and drug use.
A family's immeasurable grief
Ms McGuire's family said a few words outside the court after the proceedings concluded.
Hannah's mother and father, Debbie and Glenn McGuire, were a picture of two people carrying immeasurable grief.
"We are relieved that the court has delivered its sentence today," Debbie McGuire said.
She thanked the communities that had supported her and her family.
"We want to express our heartfelt gratitude towards our family, friends, and community for their unwavering support over the past 19 months. We could not have made it through without any of them …
"This has been an incredibly difficult ordeal. We now need time together as a family to process today's result. We kindly ask for privacy as we rebuild our lives."
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