A teenager who appealed his guilty murder plea will be released from prison more than one year early.
Emma Lovell, 41, was stabbed in the heart by a 17-year-old, who cannot be identified, during a home invasion at North Lakes, outside of Brisbane, on Boxing Day 2022.
The teen who pleaded guilty to stabbing Ms Lovell in the heart and her husband, Lee, in the back was sentenced to 14 years in prison, the maximum sentence.
At the time, children charged with murder could only be sentenced to 10 years behind bars unless the court deemed the crime especially heinous.
‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ laws introduced by new premier David Crisafulli changed this sentence in December 2024 to a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.
However, these new laws were not retroactive and the teen’s appeal was considered under the previous laws.
His lawyers cited errors in the judge’s findings, lack of consideration of personal circumstances and that the sentence itself was ‘manifestly excessive’.
The state’s new Attorney-General, Deb Frecklington, is now considering her options to make an appeal to the High Court.
Emma Lovell was murdered during a violent home invasion in her North Lakes home on Boxing Day 2022
A 17-year-old pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Lovell in 2024
Lee Lovell said the murderer of his wife successfully appealing the verdict was ‘devastating’
Mr Lovell insisted the initial sentence was not enough to begin with and said he was ‘devastated’ by the court’s new ruling.
‘I don’t know what to say, I’m shocked that they can put more of a value to someone’s freedom than someone’s life,’ he told the Courier Mail.
‘I just don’t feel justice has been served one bit for what happened to Emma.
‘Seems like all you are doing now is saying to people to commit an offence and not much will happen.’
Any crimes committed in Queensland before the passage of its new adult crime laws are still handled by the old system.
Mr Lovell hoped the new laws would work to more effectively counter the state’s youth crime wave.
He accused the justice system of ‘not doing its job’ and added that the teen’s appeal should have increased his sentence instead of reducing it.
The Attorney-General said the decision was ‘an unacceptable outcome’ based on the nature of the crime.
Ms Lovell was fatally stabbed in the heart and Mr Lovell in the back during the attack
The teen initially pleaded guilty to the crime before successfully appealing his verdict which reduced the overall sentence by more than one year
Two of three appeals court justices found the initial sentence of 14 years in prison to have been ‘manifestly excessive’
Ms Frecklington blamed ‘Labor’s weak laws’.
She added that the murder was ‘exactly’ the reason her government moved quickly to drastically rewrite the laws concerning minimum mandatory life in prison.
‘Under our laws this murderer would have been sentenced to life in prison,’ Ms Frecklington said.
Queensland Homicide Victims’ Support Group chief executive officer Brett Thompson said he would support Ms Frecklington in considering an appeal.
The teen murderer had racked up a total of 84 offences by the age of 17 and was reportedly found laughing about the crime after his arrest.
His appeal was approved after two of three appeal justices agreed the sentence was ‘manifestly excessive’.
Opposition leader and former Premier Steven Miles said he was ‘shocked’ at the judgement but accused the Attorney-General of trying to ‘score political points’ by attacking Labor’s laws.
