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The High Court will hear the case for keeping a teen killer behind bars after his sentence was appealed by Queensland’s attorney-general.
The boy, who cannot be named as he was aged 17 at the time of the murder, fatally stabbed mother-of-two Emma Lovell in the heart after he broke into her family’s house north of Brisbane about 11.30pm on Boxing Day in 2022.
His 14-year jail sentence was reduced by almost 18 months on appeal earlier this year, leaving him with a little over five years to serve behind bars.
Emma Lovell was killed and husband Lee was injured during the North Lakes home invasion in 2022.
Immediately after the teenager’s appeal, Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said she would consider trying to overturn the decision in the High Court. The court has now granted special leave to hear the appeal.
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The high-profile North Lakes home invasion contributed to the LNP’s creation of “adult crime, adult time” laws, which formed a key plank of its election platform to address youth justice in the lead-up to the 2024 state poll.
But the teenager was sentenced before the laws came into effect. Under the new laws, he would have received a mandatory sentence of life in prison with a minimum 20 years before parole.
Justice Tom Sullivan in May 2024 sentenced the teen, then aged 19, to a maximum of 14 years – with a requirement to serve 70 per cent of that time in detention – after he found the crime to be “particularly heinous”.
But the Court of Appeal in July determined the length of the teenager’s sentence was “manifestly excessive”.
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Justice David Boddice found the 14-year sentence should stand but reduced the detention period to 60 per cent.
He cited the teen’s guilty plea, “genuine remorse and prospects of rehabilitation” as special circumstances justifying his release after serving less than the statutory 70 per cent.
But Frecklington quickly said she would consider trying to overturn the decision in the High Court, and has now confirmed her application’s success.
“Emma Lovell was a loving mother whose life was brutally stolen on her own front lawn,” she said.
“As attorney-general, I am determined to pursue all available legal options to seek justice for the Lovell family.”
The hearing date for the appeal is yet to be set and will be determined by the High Court.
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