As Milly Caller stood accused of helping her best friend Emma Crossman kill herself, the victim's mum believed she had betrayed her daughter and deserved justice.
But with each day of the trial, Sharon Parr came to realise the 22-year-old was not the manipulative creature she had imagined and she had been just going along with her pal, not really believing she would carry out her threat.
And after Milly was cleared by a jury on Thursday of assisting her suicide, Sharon told how she has forgiven the 21-year-old, who bought the gas that her pal killed herself with.
She said: "At the start of the trial I was hoping Milly would be found guilty but by the end I was happy to let the jury decide.
"I had been expecting to hear she encouraged Emma to kill herself and imagined all sorts of horrible texts.
Smiles: as youngster with little sister Catherine
“But as the trial went on I felt more and more sympathy for Milly and after around four days my opinion of her started to change.
"The messages proved Milly was going along with Emma's wishes, she wasn't manipulating her or egging her on.
"Milly just wanted her friend to be happy.
"I forgive Milly because I know how much she loved my daughter."
Sharon revealed she plans to meet Milly, also devastated by Emma's death, to chat about the good times of her daughter's life now that she has helped piece together her last moments.
Memories: Mother and daughter
After the trial, she was the first to congratulate Milly – the youngest person ever to be charged with assisting a suicide – and her mum Carol.
The 47-year-old said: "I hugged them because I felt sorry for them.
"As a family they had to wait and wait to find out if she was guilty or innocent.
"It can't have been easy for them.
"I said to Milly, 'I’m glad that you’'e okay. Hopefully one day we will be able to talk about Emma as she was.'"
Sharon had agreed to be a prosecution witness against Milly – which meant she was kept in the dark about the precise details of Emma’s death for more than a year.
Cute: As a toddler
And she was stunned to hear about the gas purchase.
Milly told the court she was ordering booze online when Emma grabbed her iPad and added the canister to the list then pressed “buy”.
After the gas arrived, Emma texted Milly as she tried to kill herself.
She wrote: "I did it again but keep getting scared.
"Tell me it will be OK."
Her friend replied: "Oh dear, sounds really tough.
"It will be fine."
Emma then pleaded: "Tell me it will be fine and if I don’t reply it is because I'm dead."
The court also heard that after helping her pal buy another gas canister, Milly had texted: "I feel like I have murdered you."
Emma was later found dead by Milly on January 15 last year.
She was lying on the sofa at her home in Sleaford, Lincs, with music playing and her beloved cat Tia nearby.
As a youngster
Emma had suffered from depression for several years, but her mum was not aware she had suicidal tendencies.
Sharon first found out something was wrong when she got a panicked phone call from her daughter’s on-off boyfriend Adrian Kemp, 56, saying there was no answer at her home.
Her world came crashing down when she rang Milly and the phone was answered by a paramedic.
Sharon said: "My mum drove me down there and I went running down the street and was told. 'Your daughter has ended her life.'
"I just screamed at the top of my voice and collapsed into the middle of the road.
"I begged to see her body but they wouldn't let me.
"The paramedics sat me down in the ambulance and Milly was in there so I put my arm around her.
Last picture
"At that stage I didn’t know what had happened then the officers came and arrested her."
While S see sharon has forgiven Milly and the outcome of the trial has given her some closure, she believes her daughter would still be here today if her friend had let someone know about her suicidal remarks.
She said: "I will never forget that she did help buy the gas. Emma would stil
Post a Comment