WELLINGTON (AFP) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern choked back tears on Monday (Dec 10) while offering a heartfelt apology to the family of murdered British backpacker Grace Millane, as the man accused of killing the young traveller made his first court appearance. “From the Kiwis I have spoken to, there is this overwhelming sense of hurt and shame that this has happened in our country, a place that prides itself on our hospitality, on our manaakitanga (a Maori term meaning kindness and generosity) especially to those who are visiting our shores.”

Appearing to become choked with emotion, the PM added: “So on behalf of New Zealand, I want to apologise to Grace’s family. New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has given an emotional apology to the family of British backpacker Grace Millane, saying: “Your daughter should have been safe here, and she wasn’t, and I’m sorry for that.”

Ms Millane, 22, went missing from a hostel in Auckland on December 1 and a body was found in the Waitakere Ranges on Sunday. The last confirmed sighting of Ms Millane was at 9.41pm on December 1, the day before her birthday, at the Citylife Hotel, when she was seen with a "male companion". Kempson, 26, was called a “scumbag” by a member of the public gallery as he left the dock at Auckland District Court on Monday, during a trial for the murder of 22-year-old backpacker Grace Millane. Ms Millane was last seen with Kempson at CityLife hotel in Auckland on December 1 at 9.40pm local time, a day before she went missing, CCTV footage revealed. Ms Millane's father, David Millane, flew to Auckland and made a public appeal for help finding his daughter, who he described as "lovely, outgoing, fun-loving (and) family-orientated". Earlier on Monday in court, Judge Evangelos Thomas told members of the Millane family, who were in court: "Your grief must be desperate. “All of us hope justice for Grace is fair, swift and ultimately brings you some peace.”

Documents submitted to the court suggested police believe the University of Lincoln graduate was killed between December 1 and 2, her birthday.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes a public apology to the family of Grace Millane, who was murdered in Auckland on 1 or 2 December 2018, saying that "your daughter should have been safe here".