Molly Ticehurst’s family speak of heartbreak in court, face killer Daniel Billings

The heartbroken father of Molly Ticehurst says he will grieve the loss of his daughter for the rest of his life, telling her killer he hopes her screams “keep you awake” every night.

Daniel Billings has pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Ticehurst inside her Forbes home in April 2024.

He broke into her home and stabbed her while he was on bail, just two weeks after she made sexual assault and domestic violence allegations against him to police.

Her father, Tony Ticehurst, spoke of his crushing grief during a heartwrenching victim impact statement in Orange Court on Thursday.

“Not only was Molly my daughter, she was my best friend,” Mr Ticehurst told the court.

“Molly’s life was not complete. She had such a big heart and had so much love to give.

“She lost her life because she let the wrong person into her life. When she realised this, she tried to remove him … that is why she lost her life.”

He said his daughter “should have been safe”, telling the court he and his family were now “incomplete”.

Mr Ticehurst said he believed once Billings served his sentence, the “universe will judge you”.

Mr Ticehurst said every day now felt like he was “waking into a nightmare”.

“People often ask me, ‘How are you Tony?’ - I always say, ‘Yeah, I’m good’, but what I really want to say is, ‘I’m no longer who I was. No, I’m not good’,” he said.

“‘There is nothing you can do to fix this. I’m not OK, I’m really, really not OK.’

Mr Ticehurst previously expressed his disappointment as Billings’ case was riddled with delays.

“It seems to me that in life, the system let Molly down, and in death continues the same route,” Mr Ticehurst previously told the ABC.