Fury at Grace Millane killer’s vile attempt to drag ‘sweet and innocent’ girl’s sex life through the mud
GRACE Millane’s killer has provoked outrage over the vile way he tried to drag his victim’s sex life through the mud.
“Abhorrent and irrelevant evidence” has been slammed by a New Zealand lawyer who is furious about how “innocent, sweet Grace” was portrayed in court.
Brit backpacker Grace, 21, a marketing graduate from Essex, died on a Tinder date in Auckland when she was strangled during sex, before her body was hidden inside a suitcase, and disposed of.
She was killed in Auckland almost a year ago, on either the night before she turned 22, or in the early hours of her birthday date of December 2.
Last Friday, a jury found a 27-year-old guilty of her murder following a three-week trial.
Grace's killer, whose name remains suppressed due to a court order, will be sentenced on February 21, when the judge will decide whether he can be identified. He faces life imprisonment.
Steph Dyhrberg, convener of the Wellington Women Lawyers' Association, told there's been public revulsion over how Grace was portrayed in court, as if she "sort of deserved it".
Her murder trial heard that she was a member of multiple BDSM dating sites, and allowed a former partner to choke her during sex.
VICTIM-BLAMING
Steph told the station: "It doesn't matter what Grace Millane may or may not have consented to on this night, or even on previous nights with other partners - which is the evidence I found particularly abhorrent and irrelevant.
"You can't consent to treatment that is so rough that it might reasonably result in your death.
"The way that evidence was led, the way that the witnesses - particularly the young women who had previously dated or thought about dating this man - they way they were cross-examined, the way their history was even gone into, or their attitudes towards him or sex, or what happened or didn't happen - that was highly questionable."
Steph questioned whether it could be considered "fair defence".
The lawyer's condemnation of the disgusting way Grace's killer dragged her sex life through the mud coincides with New Zealand's parliament bringing in a new law, banning victim-blaming in court.
Grace was our sunshine and she will be missed forever.
David Millane
Radio New Zealand was told by Len Anderson, president of the Criminal Bar Association, that lawyers must follow their client's instructions.
David Millane, Grace's dad, has said the conviction of his daughter's killer "will not reduce the pain and suffering" the family have endured since her death.
He said his daughter "will be missed forever" as he left Auckland High Court last Friday.
David added: "Grace was taken in the most brutal fashion a year ago and our lives have been ripped apart.
"Grace was our sunshine and she will be missed forever."
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Phone records show her killer had viewed porn, taken photos of Grace's body and searched for "rigor mortis", "extra large bags", "carpet cleaner", "hottest fire" and "Waitakere Ranges" - the young woman's gravesite.
The killer was remanded into custody until his sentencing, when he faces life in prison with a minimum of 10 years without parole, though the judge can increase the latter period.
Jurors had rejected the defence claim that Grace's death was accidental and occurred during rough sex.
