Supreme Court judge James Elliott called for a minute’s silence to honour murdered Clunes woman Hannah McGuire, moments before the court was told her former boyfriend was a cold, calculated and remorseless killer.

As silence fell on the packed courtroom in Ballarat, 23-year-old Lachlan Young, who killed McGuire last April before setting her car on fire with her body inside, stared blankly ahead.

The body of Hannah McGuire was found in her burnt-out car in bushland near Ballarat in April 2024. Credit: The Age

Many of McGuire’s family and friends closed their eyes. Others wiped away tears, heads bowed in sorrow.

Elliott said that while a minute’s silence was unusual in a courtroom, it was reflective of the impact of McGuire’s death.

In her closing submissions to a pre-sentence heari

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