Clare Weston was killed by George Robert Ballantyne on the night of March 9, 2013, after they argued and he grabbed her as she tried to get out of the car.

Ballantyne later admitted to police that he ‘snapped’ and strangled her, dumping her body on the banks of the Hunter River at Aberglassyn.

Her body was found the next day when Ballantyne turned himself in to Police.

In separate victim impact statements, Ms Weston’s mother and father told Newcastle Supreme Court their lives had been changed forever.

‘‘You took my daughter’s life away from me,’’ said father Robert Weston, who started to cry from the first word of his statement.

Ballantyne bowed his head as family watching from the public gallery wept and passed around tissues.

‘‘I invited you into my home... I have dreams of what you did and of Clare’s final moments.

Mr Weston said in the year since his daughter’s death he sleeps a maximum of three hours a night.

‘‘I don’t accept you ever loved my daughter, otherwise you never would’ve hurt her, left her that way and took away her dignity.

‘‘No matter what happens today, justice will never be done because Clare’s not coming back.’’

Ms Weston’s mother, Christine Milford, described her daughter as a happy, sporty and outgoing person who loved her two kids, aged two and four, and lit up any room she walked into.

‘‘Clare’s kids cry themselves to sleep most nights... [her daughter] cradles a picture of her and Clare together."

‘‘They talk about her every day."

"Every night they pick out the brightest star and say it’s Clare watching over them.’’

Ballantyne pleaded guilty to Ms Weston’s murder in early July.

The sentencing hearing continues.