Family's relief after man found guilty of Burnley schoolgirl's murder

Jane Young, 16, who had emigrated to Christchurch with her family from the Ightenhill area of Burnley, suffered massive head injuries after Lipine Sila aimed his car at a group outside a house in the city while in a rage last May.

Her friend, Hannah Rossiter, also 16, was also killed while a further 26 were injured, eight seriously.

Sila was found guilty at the High Court in Christchurch on Saturday of murdering Jane and Hannah, and eight charges of causing grevious bodily harm.

Speaking after the verdict, Jane's dad, Harry Young said that waiting for the decision, which came on the fourth day of deliberations had been 'torture' as it was a 'no brainer from the beginning'.

"We can just grieve for Jane now," he said on the Court House steps, with his wife Lorraine beside him.

"We can be together and think about Jane, and think about the rest of our lives."

Her mum, Lorraine, added: "I do feel it's been justice for Jane.

"He killed her, and she'll never come home."

The Young family formerly lived in Padiham Road, Burnley, and emigrated to New Zealand in 2002. Members of her family still live in Burnley.

Sally Rossiter, Hannah's mum, told media she was pleased with the verdict.

She said: "I think it's a very just verdict."

Defence counsel Pip Hall had no comment for the media as he left the Court House, where Justice John Fogarty had remanded Sila in custody for sentence on June 26.

The jury had signalled on Thursday that it was at an impasse, and asked for further directions.

Justice Fogarty then spoke to them and they retired to a hotel for a further night before viewing all of Sila's video interviews again at a closed court session.

They then signalled that they had reached their decisions, and their verdicts were delivered in court in a brief sitting at 2.15pm.

Sila remained impassive in the dock, with the Samoan interpreter standing close to him, as the 10 guilty verdicts were announced.

There was a brief reaction, including a clap, from the public gallery as the first verdict of guilty was announced.

Justice Fogarty stopped the jury foreman and said to the court: "I am not going to tolerate that kind of remark.

"If there is anybody here who cannot contain themselves, now is the time to go."

The public gallery remained silent for the rest of the sitting, apart from gasps as the murder verdicts were announced - counts five and seven in the indictment.

At least one woman juror was in tears as the verdicts were announced.

Sila was then taken out of court and into the cells, and family members including his mother were shown through to see him.

The defence had tried to convince the jury that the driving had been the result of panic by Sila who had been under attack in Edgeware Road, Christchurch, in the minutes earlier, and had sped away for his own safety.

But the crown argued that it was an act of anger, and that Sila had wanted to harm people and had aimed for the densest part of the crowd where partygoers were milling on the street.

That was where the two schoolgirls received their non-survivable head injuries. They died in hospital early the next day.

Sila was a former representative boxer, a factory hand who lived in the Christchurch suburb of Mairehau.

He drove to a house there after the party, having two crashes on the way, and put the car out of sight of the road behind the house, with the damage partly concealed by sheets of cardboard.

After the verdict his parents, Sinapati and Onotasi Sila, apologised to the Jane and Hannah's parents.

Mr Sila said: "Lipine's very, very sorry about what he has done."

"I feel so sorry for the parents of the girls that died, I feel so sorry for her and so sorry for my son," added Mrs Sila.

Jane's childhood friend Tiffany Thomas, 18, of Ightenhill, said: "It's good to know that he will be brought to justice.

"Everyone here just wants to remember Jane as she was.

"We planted a memorial tree for her, which has given us all something nice to think about away rom the trial."