THE parents of murdered Burnley teenager Jane Young have told for the first time how their marriage has been left in tatters because of their devastating loss.

They revealed that their feelings of “anger and sadness” had forced the split following the killing in New Zealand.

Jane’s mum Lorraine said: “For a long time, I thought that not wanting to live without her was the same as wanting to die.”

The couple spoke out as 17-year-old Jane’s murderer Lipine Sila was jailed for 17 years.

Jane was mown down after 23-year-old Sila drove his Honda car at a group of partygoers, also killing her friend Hannah Rossiter.

The Youngs, originally from the Ightenhill area of Burnley, had emigrated to New Zealand around four years ago, amid concerns regarding levels of crime, drug abuse and violence in East Lancashire.

Dad Harry said he and Lorraine, who had been married for 19 years, had separated.

He said he still loved his wife with all his heart, but she had been heartbroken when Jane was murdered.

Speaking after her daughter’s killer was sentenced he said: “How could I console her when I was heart-broken myself?”

The family have had to sell and move homes because they could not bear Jane’s empty room.

Lorraine said Jane had been a delightful, happy teenager who loved New Zealand.

She had been “my best friend, my mentor, my absolute pride and joy”, she said.

She quoted the last entry in Jane’s diary for Sila as he stood in the dock, not looking at the victims through the 90-minutes of readings.

It said: “Respect for self. Respect for others. Responsibility for all your actions.”

The husband and wife came together at the High Court in Christchurch to tell trial judge Mr Justice Fogarty of the impact the case had had on their lives.

Jane had adapted well to her new life in New Zealand and made many friends - she was described in court as a ‘happy achiever’.

She was social, honest, kind, gentle and loving. She had passed her full driving test three days before she was killed.

The high school student had sat a university paper, but was killed before her pass mark came through.

Before leaving East Lancashire the Young family lived in Padiham Road, near to the Ighten Hill Social Club.

She had attended Wellfields CofE primary school, Ightenhill, and spent a year at Ivy Bank secondary school before leaving the country with her parents and brothers Christopher, Alistair and George.

Jane and 16-year-old Hannah Rossiter were killed in a murderous rampage, which ended with guilty verdicts following a five-week trial in Christchurch.

Silpa drove his car through a crowd of partygoers – hitting 28 of them –- following a row at an “out of control party”.

Fellow party guest Ben Devine, who was in a coma for weeks after the incident, struggled to read his statement in court.

He received brain damage and spoke of how people said his personality had changed, and how he had difficulties with concentration and problem solving.

Outside the court, he spoke of reading his statement: “I felt after I read it there was a weight lifted off my shoulders.”