The British backpacker, from Wickford, Essex, was brutally murdered in December 2018 after going on a Tinder date with a 28-year-old man while she was travelling in New Zealand. She went missing on December 1 and her body was later found buried in a shallow grave in a forested area just outside of Auckland. The man, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, was found guilty of murder at Auckland High Court last November.
Today Gillian Millane, her mother, directly addressed the killer in emotional court scenes.
She said: “I want you to know I do not think of you, because if I did, that means I care about you and I simply don’t.
“The tears I shed are never-ending at the thought of never having the chance to kiss my Grace goodbye.”
Mrs Millane said she needs weekly guidance counselling to deal with her daughter’s death and often sprays Grace’s perfume to be reminded of her.
She said: “Grace was never just a daughter, she was my friend, my very best friend.
“I will miss my darling Grace until my last breath.”
The killer had claimed Grace died accidentally during rough sex but a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict after just five hours deliberation.
Prosecutors said he strangled her and shoved her body inside a suitcase before burying her.
Today Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey said the killer “eroticised” the murder and took photos of her dead, naked body.
He said: “It’s not safe sex play that killed Grace Millane, it’s strangulation.
“At some point of which she lost consciousness and would have become limp and lifeless and he had to carry on.
“And if that’s not reckless murder someone will have to explain to me what is.”
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Simon Moore described Ms Millane as vulnerable but noted the attack was not pre-meditated.
He said: “You are a large and powerful man, she was diminutive. You were in a position of total physical dominance.”