Courtney Herron was beaten to death with a tree branch. Her father has opened up on his grief – and the one thing that hasn’t changed in Australia five years on

Courtney Herron’s father has opened up about the fear of losing a loved one, five years after his daughter was brutally beaten to death by a man.

John Herron said he was in “denial” for the first six months after losing his 25-year-old daughter in the senseless attack in a Melbourne park on May 25, 2019.

Henry Hammond had approached the aspiring social worker for a cigarette before the pair got chatting and shared a meal together.

Mrs Herron invited him to go with her to a friend’s meeting that evening before Hammond beat her to death with a tree branch in Royal Park and tried to hide her body under leaves and branches.

Hammond was found not guilty of murder in 2021 due to his diagnosis of schizophrenia and was ordered to serve a 25-year sentence at the Thomas Embling Hospital psychiatric facility.

Courtney Herron (pictured) was murdered by Henry Hammond on May 24, 2019 after he approached her and asked for a cigarette

“The problem with grief is that it goes through stages,” Mr. Herron said news.com.au.

‘The first six months you’re in denial and hoping it’s a nightmare. Eighteen months later you’re on a high.’

The only consolation Herron received was a letter from then Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, promising to ‘do better’.

However, it has been five years since his daughter’s death and Mr Herron believes little has changed.

Mr. Herron now works as an attorney representing the families of women whose lives have been lost to violence committed by men.

“I helped a family where their daughter was hit by a domestic violence perpetrator and she called the police to help her with three broken ribs,” he said.

‘They charged her and not the perpetrator. Do you think that’s unusual? Because I see it all the time.”

So far this year, 36 women have been killed by male violence.

The incident that affected Mr Herron most was the stabbing in Westfield Bondi Junction, which left six innocent people dead, including five women.

What struck a chord with Mr. Herron was the news that 40-year-old knifeman Joel Cauchi suffered from schizophrenia, just like his daughter’s killer.

“But as for Courtney, she didn’t get justice. But what is justice?’ he said.

‘The biggest thing all these girls would say is, ‘I don’t want the killer to do it again.’

After the death of his daughter (pictured), Mr Herron decided to represent the victims’ families in court. He said: ‘Almost all these women are murdered by someone on bail. Someone who is on the police radar’

Henry Hammond had approached the aspiring social worker for a cigarette before the pair got chatting and shared a meal together

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared violence against women a “national crisis” following public outrage over a string of deaths this year.

He announced his $925 million government plan to help women, including measures to help them escape abusive relationships and ban deepfake pornography.

However, Mr Herron said he had not even watched the National Cabinet meeting because he knew anything the government would introduce would be “pointless”.

“Almost all of these women are murdered by someone on bail. Someone who is on the police radar,” he said.

Having completely lost confidence in those in power, Mr Herron decided to take matters into his own hands and run for the Justice Party.

“My daughter would have wanted me to fight for her and other female crime victims to ensure that both her killer and others are not allowed to commit these crimes in the first place, and to enforce appropriate punishment and treatment so that the Victorian society can become healthy again. a functioning democracy,” he told The Guardian at the time.

After failing to win a seat, Mr. Herron devoted himself to representing victims’ families in court.

His experience has left him convinced that lawmakers should help women who currently turn to police as a first responder, despite the risk of angering abusers, but receive no help.

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