Even the dad of Hannah McGuire's heartless killer could see he was a vicious thug - sending his son a brutal text. Now the full inside story of Lachlan Young's evil can finally be revealed
- Lachlan Young murdered Hannah McGuire
- She was strangled and incinerated by Young
- Listen: Tune into The Trial Australia for the latest crime news across the nation
Years before he throttled the life out of his estranged girlfriend, Hannah McGuire, and then torched her body to cover his tracks, Lachlan Young was already adept in evil.
When he finally came clean about his heinous crime, he still shirked any responsibility - and instead blamed his dad in court.
But while Young's dad Tony may be no angel - with his own share of previous court appearances - even he knew where the line was.
In a stark message, just three weeks before his son killed Hannah, 23, Mr Young warned his son in no uncertain terms to grow up and start treating Hannah right.
Daily Mail can reveal he was so disgusted by his son's callous treatment of the beloved teacher's aide, he even threatened to knock some sense into him.
'Start acting like you are responsible and care about Hannah instead of treating her like s*** every weekend,' his father texted him.
'You want to have a crack? Come down and I will sort you out.'
Instead cowardly Young, 23, did what he always did - and took his frustrations out on Hannah, assaulting her the very next day.
Years before he throttled the life out of his live-in girlfriend, Hannah McGuire (pictured together) and then torched her body to cover his tracks, Lachlan Young was adept in evil
On Tuesday, Young was jailed for 28 years and told he must serve at least 22 years and four months before becoming eligible for parole.
For Hannah's long-suffering parents, Debbie and Glenn, the sentence was probably as good as it gets from a justice system routinely accused of being broken.
They hadn't liked Young one bit and it had nothing to do with his buck teeth, mullet haircut and rough upbringing.
They had been desperate to see the back of him, but Hannah's generous nature meant she kept trying to make her relationship with him work.
The couple had bought a home together but she finally became fed up with the volatile affair and tried to end it - but agreed to see him one last time.
Young took that as his opportunity to murder her.
What happened next has been widely reported in graphic detail. Young dumped Hannah's body in the back of her car, drove it into the bush and burnt her remains.
He then went about trying to make it look like suicide, sending messages to her mum pretending he was her.
Tony Young told his son to treat Hannah right just three weeks before his son killed her
When Lachlan Young (pictured) finally came clean about his heinous crime , he still shirked any responsibility - and instead blamed his parents
Hannah McGuire and her best friend Caitlyn Stepnell in happier times
But the lead-up and background to Young's life and Hannah's murder make it all the more tragic.
In short, Hannah's trust and belief in the decency of human beings cost her her life.
That trust applied to Victoria Police and the justice system too.
Young had been the subject of numerous intervention orders he had breached with little consequence.
An order 'protecting' Hannah from Young had only just expired when he killed her and a new one had just been put in place.
He had been on bail over other alleged offending when he killed her.
Hannah had told police she was 'terrified' of Young - and with good reason.
When Young's charade was up, he blamed his upbringing for his poor life choices.
Hannah McGuire had told police she was 'terrified' of Young - and with good reason
Lachlan Young had been abusing drugs most of his life, kicking it off with cannabis when he was just 13
Young's father had been a heavy drinker and was known to fly off the handle at a whim, the court was told.
Young had been abusing drugs most of his life, kicking it off with cannabis when he was just 13.
At 18, he began using cocaine, speed and ecstasy.
By 20 he was routinely using up to 1.5 grams of methylamphetamine a week, but would sometimes use up to three grams a week.
Young was also boozing like a trooper, downing slabs of beer and swilling spirits like they were for free.
And he and his father had been trading blows since he was around 14, Young told the court.
In October last year the father was jailed for six months after a frightening attack on a woman he believed had stolen his dog.
But had Young listened to his father's advice, Hannah would be alive today.
Hannah McGuire's friends were forced to front court as Lachlan Young maintained his innocence
Lachlan Young was ugly both inside and out
His younger sister Rebecca claimed Young had been kind to her as a child, but things changed as the years went on. Young's anger could not be tamed.
Even at school, Young was both a sook and a menace. He would storm out of class when things didn't go his way and dropped out in Year 8.
From there Young spent 18 months as a panel beater before becoming a labourer on building sites with the father of his then-girlfriend.
It was a short-lived relationship that ended in circumstances Hannah would have well understood.
Young spent time with his grandparents in South Australia as a 17-year-old before returning to Victoria and completing a carpentry apprenticeship in the weeks before the murder.
He had met Hannah at the end of 2021 and by early 2022 she had moved into his parents' home with him.
Hannah had worked with Young's sister, who was also a teacher's aide like her.
It quickly became clear to all that observed the couple that Hannah was not being treated right.
The couple had bought a home together but she finally became fed-up with the volatile affair and tried to end it - but agreed to see him one last time
A tribute was left for Hannah McGuire on a tree stump where her body had been incinerated by Young
Her father's own efforts to sort Young out fell on deaf ears.
When Young told Hannah he wanted them to buy a house just 70m down the road from his parents' home in Sebastopol, just outside of Ballarat, alarm bells rang.
Hannah moved back home with her own parents, who continue to run an iconic pub in the township of Clunes in country Victoria.
Young went ballistic and wasn't shy about letting anyone know about it.
When he chased her down the road in his car, Hannah led him to the local police station.
The last two words of her police statement made on February 17, 2023 were: 'I’m terrified'.
Unable to accept a troubled man could not be turned, Hannah took him back, buying the property with him, where she would later die.
A month before she would be killed, Hannah gave up that fight.
Kicked and punched by Young, her necklace torn off, Hannah went to police where an intervention order was granted prohibiting him from hurting her any more.
Hundreds farewelled Hannah McGuire at her funeral service
But Young ignored it - and continued to harass Hannah with endless claims that he'd sort himself out.
Young took a week off work after the break-up and sought medical attention to assist with his mental health.
On March 29 he attempted to commit suicide.
Hannah spent the very next night with him at her former home.
When she failed to visit over the next few days, Young set the wheels in motion to dispatch her once and for all.
On April 3, Young was served with the intervention order paperwork.
'Women they just wanna hurt you and milk you dry and still have the decency to say it was your fault,' Young texted his boss's wife.
On the night of April 5, Hannah went to netball training and had dinner at her parents’ hotel.
Debbie and Glenn McGuire fronted reporters after Young's sentence. They hope for closure, but will only find more pain
She left the hotel about 9.13pm, telling her parents she was going to see a friend who was about to travel overseas.
All the while she was exchanging messages with Young which indicated her intention to see him.
What happened that night will only ever be known by Young himself.
The remorseless thug maintained his innocence all the way to trial, only changing his plea to guilty eight days into it.
Pre-trial examinations had already been conducted in December last year and again in March where more than 20 witnesses were grilled, including Debbie McGuire and a number of Hannah’s friends.
In handing down his sentence, Justice James Elliott noted the suffering of Hannah’s parents was hard to comprehend.
'The immense suffering of so many others whose lives were deeply touched by Hannah’s murder was stark and is still raw, including because of the trauma you caused by lying about the circumstances of her death,' he said.
With time already served, Young will be eligible for parole in August 2046 when he is in his mid-40s.
