Heartbroken dad of murdered India Chipchase tells of his agony over her brutal death

THE devastated dad of murdered India Chipchase has told of his heartache after his daughter was raped and killed by evil Edward Tenniswood.

Jeremy Chipchase, 49, read an emotional statement in which he spoke at his heartache at never walking his daughter down the aisle.

Sitting by a family photo of India, Mr Chipchase said: "I sincerely hope there's no possibility that another woman ever falls into the hands of my daughter's murderer."

He said no other father should ever have to hear the news that their daughter had been found dead, or see the faces of his daughter's two sisters and brother as they were told.

His voice cracked with emotion as he said: "No other father will have to see their daughter's body in the mortuary and be told they are unable to touch or kiss her one last time.

The doctor added: "No other father will have to touch the coffin and say 'love you, Ind' and see the curtain close in the crematorium.

"No other father will be hit with a wave of emotion at a wedding, as I was, realising I would never walk India down the aisle.

"We will continue to have this pain, anguish and emotion until our last breaths."

He said: "Therefore I reiterate I do not want there to be other victims at the hands of India's murderer.

"No other family should experience what we have.

"I hope the sentencing reflects that."

In a statement read to court, India’s mum Susan said her daughter "lit up a room" and had ideas of becoming a life-saving paramedic.

She said her daughter's death at Tenniswood's hands had robbed her family of a "vibrant" young woman of great potential.

She added: "Her death has left a huge void in all our lives and her siblings are quiet and subdued without her.

"The actions of this man means we have been condemned to a life spent grieving for a child whose potential we shall never see."

Former bookkeeper Tenniswood was today found guilty of murdering 20-year-old India, who he raped and strangled after finding her outside a nightclub.

He was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 30 years for the killing.

Sentencing him to life the judge, Mr Justice Saunders, told the court: "This was a terrible crime. It was committed because the defendant was determined to satisfy his own sexual desires on an attractive and much younger woman. It was a crime of utter depravity."

He added: "To lose a child at any time and for any reason is a tragedy, but to lose a daughter in the way India's parents did is unimaginable."

CCTV footage showed predator Tenniswood speaking to Ms Chipchase before he “led, steered or escorted” her to a cab, and then back at his home raped and killed her.

Christopher Donnellan QC said of Tenniswood: “He was overheard by others to say ‘Not to worry’, and he’d get her home safe – he didn’t.”

India had been a pupil at £12,000-a-year Pitsford School near Northampton.

Following her death, India's heartbroken ex-boyfriend Evaan Reihana, a professional rugby player for Bordeaux Begles, dedicated his career to her.

Fantasist and loner Edward Tenniswood claimed he had consensual sex with Ms Chipchase, who was less than half his age, and that her death in his squalid Northampton home in the early hours of January 30 was a result of his "over-eagerness" in bed.

He had promised to "get her home safe" after finding her outside the club - but instead he attacked her, leaving her with more than 30 injuries.

After killing her, 52-year-old Tenniswood told a jury he "cuddled up" to her lifeless body and then sat and drank in a hotel bar for 22 hours until the police came to arrest him.

A Birmingham Crown Court jury took just one hour and 45 minutes to convict Tenniswood, of Stanley Road, Northampton, of rape and murder after a two-week trial.

As the verdicts were delivered, Tenniswood looked down and raised his eyebrows, and then dropped his face into his hands.

Following sentencing Detective Chief Inspector Steve Woliter called Tenniswood "the worst kind of predator".

Tenniswood had forced family and friends of his victim to listen in court to his claims that she had gone willingly to his home and had had consensual sex with him.

India's mum told of the "void and pain" caused to their family that have left India's three siblings - Harry, Pia and Lou Lou - "subdued".

In her victim impact statement, she said: "India arrived on Christmas Eve in 1995 and this year she should be celebrating her 21st birthday.

"As a family we will not be able to do that this year, or any year to come.

"India loved Christmas and it was a special time of the year for all of us and now we will struggle to make it special.

"She was loving, kind and beautiful inside and out.

"Like many young people, India didn't really know what she wanted to do in life, but in the weeks before her death she decided she wanted to pursue a career as a paramedic.

"She cared about people and I know she would have excelled in that job. She was such a vibrant person and there was never a dull moment when she was around.

"Our house was always full of noise and chaotic, now her siblings are quiet and subdued without her.

"I miss my daughter more than words can express, but she will always be with me.

"By the actions of this man we have been condemned to a life sentence of grieving for a child whose potential we will never see, a sister we no longer share secrets with.

"Nothing that happens to that man will be enough to fill the void and pain that he has caused to our family."

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