Australian teen jailed for 14 years over British mother's Boxing Day murder
An Australian teenager has been jailed for 14 years after he murdered a British mother when he broke into her home on Boxing Day.
Emma Lovell, 41, originally from Suffolk, and her husband were stabbed by a 17-year-old boy in the Australian state of Queensland in 2022.
The unnamed teen pleaded guilty to several charges including murder and malicious act with intent, ABC News reports.
The Australian Supreme Court heard the now 19-year-old had been with another boy at the time, who is also facing charges but has not yet entered a plea.
Justice Tom Sullivan told the court: “It is correct to describe the offence in this case as atrocious and one which would create a sense of outrage in the general community.
“The Lovells were ordinary citizens enjoying their family life in their home where they were entitled to feel safe.
"What occurred … violated that entirely."
He continued: “You murdered Mrs Lovell, you thereby exposed Mr Lovell and his two daughters and others … to the trauma of the aftermath of that violence."
The teen will be released from custody after serving nine years and nine months.
Outside court widower Lee Lovell said he did not feel like justice had been served.
Speaking on his birthday, He told reporters: “We've got up to 10 years which is more than I thought it was going to be.
"I suppose it was good to get 14 years, but it will never be enough. It's never going to bring Emma back."
The couple have two daughters.
Mrs Lovell's death prompted outrage across Queensland and was one of many high-profile crimes that saw the state introduce stricter youth crime laws in 2023.
It is now a criminal offence in Queensland if a child breaches bail conditions.
Children as young as 15 can also be fitted with GPS trackers, and the courts now have the authority to declare youths as serious repeat offenders in certain circumstances.
