The mum of murdered Canadian Ashley Wadsworth said she was "completely innocent" as she came face to face with her daughter's killer in court.
The 19-year-old was stabbed to death by her boyfriend Jack Sepple after she moved to the UK to be with him.
Christy Gendron described her daughter as "the backbone" of the family and shared her heartache after the teen was found dead in a block of flats in Chelmsford, Essex.
Ashley, from British Columbia, was found unresponsive following concerns for her safety and tragically died at the scene in February.
Her boyfriend Sepple was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years at six months at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday after admitting to her murder.
High Court Judge Mr Justice Edward Murray branded the 23-year-old a "dangerous individual" whose actions were "horrifying".
Ms Gendron told Essex Live how the family "didn't worry" about Ashley when she was young because she was such an easy child.
"People would say to me 'your daughter's so nice'," she said.
"She would always love to learn cultures, religions, languages, loved to travel.
"She just loved it. I call her a modern day hippy, honestly she was.
"She just loved to love people, loved to help people, she loved life, and she lived life to the fullest.
"In life, she had been living like she was going to die, for real.
"She's everything I wasn't. She's outgoing, she was the backbone of the three of us, I was a single mum.
"She was always the strongest one. She was fiercely loyal, she was the glue that kept everyone together."
Ashley was on a six-month tourist visa and came to Britain after meeting British boyfriend Sepple online.
Her great aunt Tova Wadsworth told how Ashley was on the "trip of a lifetime" after arriving in the UK from Vernon last November.
Mr Justice Murray told the court Sepple had eight previous convictions for 12 offences – nearly all for domestic violence.
It shows a "clear pattern of violent and controlling behaviour for a number of women," he said.
Sepple also wrote a note in prison which had "disturbing graphic reasons for the killing and how you felt about it."
He had inflicted a sustained assault on Ashley after getting angry that she had booked a flight back to her home country of Canada just two days after she was killed.
The court also heard how Sepple had filmed himself in the property covered in Ashley's blood, with her body visible in the background.
He had apologised for what he did, and addressed the video to Ashley's sister Hailey, though there is no evidence that he tried to send it to her.
An enormous outpouring of grief and sadness from the Chelmsford community followed Ashley's death as well as in her home, Vernon.
Vigils were held in the parks near to where she had been staying, and fundraisers were launched to help her family with funeral costs.
Her mum Ms Gendron continued: "She loved to the fullest, even with him. That's who she was.
"She was an amazing soul, an old soul. She lived fast. She'd get up in the morning, go to work – always worked from the age of 14 – always had different jobs.
"She would always go to bed early, and wake up early.
"She'd get up, do her make-up, go out, come home, say she was going to her friend's, and always buying us stuff.
"I would say 'save your money' and she would go 'for what? You've got to live mummy!'
"She was so open, I was amazed, yeah, she amazed me. Loved to learn, she would cry if she got a B and wanted an A.
"She never skipped school. She was easy. She was almost so easy that I didn't worry about her, and that's the thing I will live with."
Statements were read aloud to the court at Sepple's sentencing. Sister Hailey told how Ashley was set to be the maid of honour at her wedding, but now she is an only child.
She said her family is “broken” and "surviving day to day" following her murder.
"Jack took Ashley from us... We trusted you to care and look after her when she came to England," she said.
"You broke that trust.... I hope the time you spend locked up will make you realise what you have done and that you don’t get to do this to anyone else."
Turning to Sepple in his victim impact statement, Ashley's dad Kenneth Wadsworth said: "Jack; you need to know and accept the brutality of what you have done and the never-ending pain you have caused our family.
"Ashley is forever missed and loved. We recently booked a flight and the lady who was dealing with us didn’t know us, but when she saw our names she started crying.
"I am forever grateful that I got to tell her [Ashley] that I loved her the last time I spoke to her."
Ms Gendron also provided a statement to court, addressing her daughter's killer.
"She always wanted to help him and better him, and help him when he was in hospital," she said.
"He repaid her by taking her own life. It’s had a profound impact on my life.
"I only sleep an hour or two at a time as I think about her last minutes. I walk passed her bedroom every day and I only go in when I am strong enough.
"It was supposed to be me first, not her. Jack has robbed Ashley and us of what would have been a beautiful life.
"She was so far away and I couldn’t see her and it took us three weeks to get her home to Canada. Ashley has been ripped away from us in the cruellest way."
Det Supt Scott Egerton, who led the case against Sepple, commented on the sentencing.
Speaking on Monday, he said: “Today, Ashley’s family and friends can know that justice has been served.
"Jack Sepple admitted murdering Ashley Wadsworth, their daughter, their sister, their aunt, their friend, and will now serve a life sentence.
"When Ashley came to the UK to be with him, her family could never have imagined the horror they’ve been faced with.
“At just 19, Ashley had a bright future ahead of her. She had dreams and passions she wanted to pursue and these would have been a reality had it not been for Sepple; he took all that away from her.
“I’m proud of the dedication of my investigation team. Their focus and determination meant that the evidence against Jack Sepple was so overwhelming that he had no choice other than to admit his guilt.”
