‘We prayed and begged for her to live’ – familypublished at 16:13 BST
16:13 BST
Following the verdict, Rhiannon’s family have read out their statement outside court. We have already covered part of it, but they revealed the true cost of Rhiannon’s death on the family:
“Rhiannon’s life was not the only one taken on that day – Majek stole a crucial piece from all of us. He stole our lives as we knew them. None of us will ever be the same. He took so many opportunities from Rhiannon, she will never watch her son grow up, we will never watch her marry, build a family, buy her first house or learn to drive.
“He stole our best friend. There is no end to the pain and suffering he’s inflicted on my family and her friends.
“Rhiannon died surrounded by family and friends, we held her in our arms for three days until she succumbed to the injuries he inflicted on her. We prayed and begged for her to live, but our hope is that Deng Chol Majek will spend his life alone and unloved.
“We now have to grieve her for longer than we got to love her, which will never make any sense to us. He may have taken her voice, her future and her life, but he will never silence us and Rhiannon will live on in all of us.
“Getting justice for Rhiannon is not the ending of her story, we will continue to advocate to evoke change in her name. Many have tried to imply this is about immigration, but these are the choices of one man, not an ethnic group.
“I would like to quote Rhiannon’s favourite Disney character stitch: ‘O’hana, O’hana means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten’.
“Rhiannon will never be forgotten.”