Accused killer ‘formed plan to harm her’ days before Hannah McGuire was killed, court told

9 hours ago 3

Warning: Distressing content

The man accused of killing Ballarat woman Hannah McGuire told a workmate he had planned to drug her and crash a car with her unconscious behind the wheel, a court has been told.

On the first day of the Supreme Court trial into the 23-year-old woman’s alleged murder, disturbing allegations about how accused killer Lachlan Young, 22, treated the educational support worker in the lead-up to her death were also aired in court.

Hannah McGuire was found dead in April 2024.

These included allegations that he once called her 129 times in less than 24 hours and sent a series of snapshots venting his frustrations following a break-up more than a year before she died.

Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill told the jury McGuire and Young had been in a “controlling, problematic and turbulent” relationship before Young murdered her in the early hours of April 4, 2024, at the home they had purchased together and once shared in Ballarat.

“We will call evidence that will demonstrate that the accused formed a plan to harm Hannah McGuire from the second of April 2024,” Churchill told the jury during her opening address to the trial in Ballarat.

A court sketch of Lachlan Young, accused killer of Hannah McGuire.

Young has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and not guilty to one count of murder.

Churchill told the court Young allegedly had a conversation with a co-worker on April 2, 2024, three days before McGuire’s badly burned body was found in a torched car in bushland, in which he told his colleague he was going to “roofie” McGuire and then “drive her out somewhere and make the vehicle crash while she wasn’t conscious”.

“He wanted to scare Hannah so she didn’t take his house or his things,” Churchill said Young had told his workmate.

The co-worker allegedly went home and told his partner some of the plan.

McGuire’s body was found in a burnt-out car on April 5, 2024, near State Forest Road in Scarsdale, about 25 kilometres south-west of Ballarat, by a man walking his dog.

The prosecution alleges McGuire went to meet Young at the Ballarat house they previously shared on April 4, arriving about 9.47pm in her orange Mitsubishi Triton and parking it at the rear of the house.

Churchill alleges she was killed with “murderous intent” sometime after 1.50am, before Young put her body in the back of her own car and drove to his co-worker’s house.

The court heard that on the evening McGuire was killed, Young had contacted his co-worker several times.

The jury was told the duo met about 3am after Young honked the horn of the Mitsubishi Triton out the front of his co-worker’s house, before allegedly telling his colleague to follow him in another car.

It is then alleged the pair drove into bushland, where the co-worker alleges that he saw Young taking a yellow blowtorch and setting fire to the front of the car.

The prosecution alleges Young also sent a message from McGuire’s phone to his own phone, in which he wrote, “I am not coming”, to suggest she had cancelled plans to see him that evening.

Hannah McGuire, 23, was found dead on April 5, 2024, in Scarsdale, south-west of Ballarat.

Churchill told the jury Young had also attempted to cover up the murder by sending a series of text messages purporting to be McGuire to her mother, Debbie, in an attempt to make her death look like a suicide.

He is also accused of purporting to be McGuire when he transferred $2000 to her mother and $5000 to himself from her bank account hours after her death.

Churchill said when the co-worker had learned McGuire was missing, he allegedly said to Young: “Hannah McGuire better not have been in that f-----g truck.”

The court heard that in the lead-up to her death, McGuire had sought the assistance of a solicitor, told an old friend she was relieved the relationship was over, and was living with her parents.

The court heard that on March 23, 2024, McGuire had emailed Young confirming their relationship was over and requested that he give her space.

Three days later, McGuire had gone to the house she previously shared with Young, taking her mother for support, where the accused allegedly punched the door of her vehicle and yelled obscenities at her, causing the pair to ring triple zero as they fled in the car.

The court was told that about a year before she died, following another break-up with Young, he had allegedly waited for her to finish work, drove past her and performed a U-turn.

Hannah McGuire’s parents, Debbie and Glenn McGuire, arrive at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Ballarat.

Churchill told the court McGuire had called her mother “yelling and screaming” that Young was attempting to drive her off the road.

She also told the jury of other instances where McGuire had expressed fears for her safety while she was working at a local Ballarat school.

She allegedly hid her car from view because she was afraid Young would come to the property and damage it while she was working.

Young’s lawyer, Glenn Casement, told the court that while his client had “foolishly” suggested that the deceased might have taken her own life and transferred money from a banking application “in a desperate attempt to seem more plausible”, he did not kill McGuire with “murderous intent”.

He also cast doubt on the account of Young’s co-worker.

“What you make of his credibility and reliability is going to be a major issue in this trial,” he said.

McGuire was reported missing by her family in April last year.

The trial is expected to run for five weeks.

McGuire’s family and friends are expected to provide evidence to the court, as is Young’s co-worker.

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

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