Haines has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years and four months. The sentence has just been handed down in Swansea Crown Court in the last few moments.

Just before the sentence was handed down, the court heard a victim impact statement from Lily Sullivan’s mother Anna.

Lily was her only child.

Mrs Sullivan said: “I suffered 14 miscarriages prior to Lily being born.

“I had resigned myself to not having any children so when Lily was born it felt amazing.

“She gave true purpose to my life, she was my little bit of normal.

“Everything made sense when she arrived.

“We were so, so close.

“She was a beautiful girl inside and out. She didn’t see that and lacked self-confidence.

“She always saw the good in people. She was not an angry person or confrontational.

“Lily was always good in a crisis.

“She was bright, funny and a talented artist. She was a typical teenage girl who loved clothes and makeup and mostly music. She adored house music.

“She had just started going out with friends on a regular basis. The pain of Lily being taken from her family is unbearable. I am suffering many physical symptoms which are debilitating. I suffer regularly from panic attacks. When they come I cannot speak or function.

“I constantly feel numb and in a daze. The feelings I have are so difficult to describe. I am broken inside. It’s almost like I don’t know why I was put on this earth in the first place.

“I used to be afraid of dying because I didn’t want to leave Lily, but I am waiting for my time now. I can’t wait to be with her again. Until this happens it feels like my life is on pause. I am struggling to find a reason to be here.

“I wake up in the night picturing Lily in the water and wondering what was happening, whether she was scared. I picture the male responsible for Lily’s death, when I saw him in front of the garage and could have confronted him. He looked me straight in the eye.

“I question what happened when her phone went dead when I was speaking to her and what I could have done differently so she could still be alive. It’s like being tortured, thinking that one decision could have changed the whole night.

“Overwhelmingly I feel it’s all so senseless. It didn’t need to happen. What I can’t come to terms with is that the man who killed Lily knew I was waiting for her and passed me by the garage.

“He chose not to help and he did nothing, that is something which I can never forgive.”

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Yelland said: “Haines passed numerous opportunities to seek help for Lily when fleeing the scene of his crime.

“His selfish and cruel actions have changed the lives of all those who knew and loved Lily and the close-knit community of Pembroke.”