Emma Lovell’s teen killer wins appeal for less jail time

A teenager who murdered a mother of two during a Christmas holiday home invasion has had his sentence reduced by almost 18 months on appeal.

The boy, who cannot be named as he was aged 17 at the time of the offences, fatally stabbed Emma Lovell in the heart after he broke into her family’s house north of Brisbane about 11.30pm on Boxing Day in 2022.

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”.

The Court of Appeal on Friday allowed the teen’s appeal against the length of his sentence, finding it was “manifestly excessive”.

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 from detention after serving less than the statutory 70 per cent.

Lovell’s husband Lee, who was wounded during the home invasion, was unable to attend court on Friday when the appeal decision was handed down.

In June, when the bid for the sentence to be appealed was launched, Lee told reporters he thought the legal action was “disgraceful”.