In the sterile quiet of the funeral parlour, Lily Barden faced a heartrending task.
The young woman lying in front of her was her sister Hope - strong, independent and adored by her family and friends.
But her life had ended in terrible circumstances at the age of 21 and now Lily needed to prepare her for her final journey.
"I tried to do her makeup," Lily said.
"Hope loved her eyebrows and lipsticks. I wanted her to look like she'd have wanted.
"But she felt so cold. She didn't look peaceful, she didn't look like herself."
One of the funeral parlour attendants stepped in to help and Lily, 23, directed her.
The woman gently shaped Hope's eyebrows and applied the lipstick her sister picked out.
Then Lily, her mother and grandmother sat by Hope's body attaching safety pins to the lovely material on the coffin so mourners could cover it in their favourite photographs.
She was laid to rest in her favourite outfit - Tommy Hilfiger cap and leggings, a top and new trainers.
Hope Barden died in March last year when a degrading webcam role play went wrong.
Her client Jerome Dangar watched her die of asphyxia - but did nothing to save her.
Police were considered charging the 45-year-old with manslaughter - but he killed himself in prison earlier this year after being charged with possessing extreme pornography.
In an exclusive interview with Mirror Online, her sister Lily;
- Reveals police thought Hope had hanged herself - but Lily convinced them to investigate her webcam work
- Led them to Dangar by sharing messages and account details - and crucially suggesting officers checked the last person to pay her
- Describes how Hope had nicknamed Dangar 'Cable Tie Guy' and details some of his bizarre requests
- Believes Dangar could have many other victims
- Shares family's agony at burying 'strong, independent' sister who had felt completely safe doing webcam work
- Wants 'Hope's Law' to be passed to protect women doing webcam work
Growing up in Penzance, Cornwall, Hope and big sister Lily, 23, were inseparable.
Lily said: " Our family was always really close and Hope and I had an incredible bond since we were kids.
"We had everything in common – we liked the same music, we had the same circle of friends.
“It was like growing up with your best mate.
"She did a lot for me and was always bailing me out.
“The only thing we ever argued about was borrowing each other’s clothes."
The sisters went to Humphry Davy School where Lily passed her GCSES and then studied at Penwith College before going to the University of Worcester to study child and adolescent mental health.
Like many students Hope got into debt while studying.
After graduating "independent" Hope took a job as a carer working with people with disabilities and started to pay back her £30,000 student debt.
The average graduate in the UK from a three-year degree carries more than £50,000 of debt.
Looking for a way to boost her income "intelligent" Hope turned to webcam work and felt safe doing so.
When she confided in her sister about what she was doing Lily said: “I have a few friends who do it too so it wasn’t a massive shock when she told me.
“None of them had any problems before so I had no worries about Hope doing it at all.
“She was such a strong, independent, intelligent feminist and liked to be in control.
“She didn't mind doing the work and she really enjoyed the money.
“But she didn't need it. She was working as a carer for people with learning disabilities but she liked having extra money.
"She liked being able to do what she wanted and hated having to rely on anyone."
Recalling the first time she saw Dangar, Lily said: “I knew he was a weirdo from the start.
“I first heard about him in October. We were sitting in our nan's house and he was online.
“He was asking Hope to blow cigarette smoke into the camera at him. He paid her £50 just for that.
“I couldn't see his face but he had cable ties around his private parts.
“We used to call him 'Cable Tie Guy.'
“He'd pay Hope to tell him to pull the cables tighter.
“Another time he asked her to eat her own faeces. She got some Nutella, put it in her hand and ate that instead.
“He was just a weirdo we were laughing at until he asked her to strangle herself."
Pub landlord Dangar paid Hope £2,300 over a three-month period to carry out his sick and twisted fantasies.
Lily remembers Hope talking about Dangar's deadly sexual fantasies but she said that her sister, who was “headstrong and fiercely independent” always felt in control.
“She told me that he was asking her to drown herself, and to hang herself. We were always asking ourselves what was wrong with this guy.
“She was very headstrong and she felt like she was safe, like she was in control.
“I still don’t know why she did it that day. Maybe he offered her a much bigger payment. Money was probably the biggest influence.
“I think she may have been trying to prank him again and it went wrong.
“One thing I know is that she definitely did not mean to kill herself.
“But she tried to do what he asked her to do and it went wrong.”
Hope's body was discovered by her flatmate at her address in Burton-upon-Trent on 15 March 2018.
Recalling the day her sister died, Lily said: “Hope tried to call mum at about 6pm but she missed that call. Mum had poor reception where she was.
"I messaged her at 9pm, it was just chitchat about a friend’s Facebook post, but it didn't deliver. Her phone had died. I'm guessing she died and then her phone died.
“Her flatmate couldn't get into the house that night. He had to climb in a window. He tried to resuscitate her but it was too late.
"It must have been awful for him finding her. They were very close.
“Police came to my nan’s the next morning looking for mum.
“She came banging on my door at 6am. I ignored it at first but when I opened the door and saw her face I knew it was serious.
“She said that Hope’s body had been found and they thought it was suicide.
“It didn’t register with me. I was in complete disbelief. I made a cup of tea and sat on the couch and smoked a cigarette.
“It was just so odd. Mum went to identify Hope’s body and I went to work.
“I was in a daze but I tried to push it to the back of my mind and focus on my job.
“It wasn’t until I sat down later that night on my own that I started to take it all in.
“I had spoken to Hope before she died, we spoke every day.
“She had been really happy and I knew it couldn’t be suicide.
“I think I just blurted it out to mum about Hope’s other work.
“I said: ‘I don’t know if this is relevant but…
“I told mum about Dangar asking her to blow fag smoke into the camera and the other stuff and she said ‘what an odd man.’
“She was very understanding about everything, she wasn’t angry, she was just really sad and completely shocked. She had no idea that Hope was doing any of this."
A post mortem showed Hope died from asphyxiation and police initially thought Hope had killed herself.
But Lily implored detectives to check her sister's phone records and bank accounts, convinced that something more sinister had gone on.
Lily said: “We were told that it was suicide but I knew she hadn't hung herself. I had been talking to her that day. I knew she wasn't depressed. She loved living with her flatmate, she was really happy.
“I told the detective about Hope's webcam work and showed them her messages about it. I gave them her escort profile and PayPal details.
“I knew someone was putting money in her bank account and asked them to check who this was.
“The last person to put money in her account was Dangar.
“If her death had been considered as a suicide, he (Dangar) would still be out there hurting other girls."
An examination of Hope's phone backed up Lily's fears and revealed that Dangar had encouraged Hope to engage in dangerous sexual acts and was the last person to pay her in a webcam session.
Police raided Dangar's pub in Tintagel, Cornwall and seized his phone.
He was arrested after police found “the worst images it is possible to imagine”.
Dangar was jailed for 15 months after pleading guilty to nine charges of possessing extreme pornography that showed a "pre-occupation with strangulation, stabbing, torture, asphyxiation and death".
But coward Dangar denied the family justice when he took his own life while serving his sentence at HMP Dartmoor in April this year.
Police were preparing to charge him for Hope's manslaughter which would have been a legal first.
At the inquest into Hope's death on June 26, Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh returned a verdict of unlawful killing.
Mr Haigh said Hope had been found dead after filming herself "for the purposes of sexual gratification for him".
He added: "The extent of his encouragement to her to carry out this act and his failure to report appropriately when she lost consciousness makes it clear that the male was so subjectively reckless as to amount to manslaughter."
“At the end it was just him and her. He watched her die. He had a duty of care to report it but he didn't," said Lily.
“He took my sister and then he denied us justice by killing himself.
“He should have manned up but he took the coward's way out.
“I'm glad he's dead in a way so that he can't hurt anyone else. But I'd like to have spoken to him personally, I wanted to ask him why he didn't contact emergency services."
Lily believes there could be "many other" victims of Dangar out there who are yet to come forward.
“I don’t believe that Hope was Dangar's first victim.
“I'm sure he had watched people die for his own sexual gratification before.
“Police found him in possession of very violent porn and people have contacted me online saying that Dangar abused them too.
“He could have many other victims."
Now Lily wants to warn others of the hidden dangers lurking in the unregulated online sex world. And she's determined to change the law in Hope's name to protect future victims and enshrine a duty of care on those who pay them.
She said: “People think webcam work is safe, but I want them to know that they can get in real trouble with it.
“At the start we just thought it was funny.
“Hope never met her killer in real life.
“He was 250 miles away when he killed her.
“Lots of people do webcam work now and I have no problem with that, each to their own, but it needs distinct laws to protect the people doing it.”
“There needs to be clear terms and conditions with webcam work.
“If an act could put someone's life at risk that needs to be clearly stated in an online contract and the person watching has to know that they have a duty of care to that person – and they could go to prison if they don't act on that.
“These platforms also need to be monitored for anyone putting their lives in danger.
“People pass judgement when someone works in the sex industry but it’s not a terrible thing, it’s just a job.
“There’s such stigma around it that some people may not have reported him before and many other people may be suffering in silence because of his actions.
“I’m appealing to other victims to come forward or to know they’re not alone and to get counseling for what he’s put them through."
Lily's funeral took place in April last year and Lily and her family are now channeling all their energy into getting Hope's Law passed to help them get through one day at a time.
Her voice breaking, Lily added: “I try not to but I think of her every day, all the time. She did a lot for me, she was always bailing me out.
“It's bizarre. I still don't really believe it. When I talk about her I feel like I'm talking about someone I read about.
“I feel like she's still up in Burton, off on a holiday."
Along with photos, Lily now treasures the many voicemails her sister left her which she listens back to when life gets particularly hard.
She said: “I still go to pick up the phone to call her and I have to stop myself.
“I’ve saved all her voice messages and on bad days I listen to them.
“She’s just talking about random things and laughing but it’s comforting to listen to her.”
