A sentencing has revealed why a teenager involved in a horrific robbery during which a mother-of-two was stabbed to death in front of her husband was acquitted of her murder.
Emma Lovell died when two teenagers broke into her home in North Lakes, north of Brisbane, in the early hours of December 26, 2022.
Cameras captured both teens fighting with Lovell and her husband Lee; The fight spread to the driveway of the family home before one of the teenagers, aged 17, stabbed her in the chest.
The same boy also kicked and stabbed Mr Lovell. Both children then fled when Mrs Lovell died from her injuries.
The 17-year-old girl who inflicted the fatal wound on Lovell pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced to 14 years in prison earlier this year.
But his co-accused, also 17, was found not guilty of murder, the alternative charge of manslaughter and a charge of malicious act with intent following a judge-only trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court in late October.
Instead, he was found guilty of burglary in a business and assault causing bodily injury in a business.
In his 19-page ruling, Supreme Court Justice Michael Copley said he could not be satisfied that the second teenager was part of the murder because he did not know that his co-accused had arrived at the house packing the deadly weapon.
Emma Lovell died after being stabbed by a teenager during a home invasion in North Lakes on Boxing Day 2022.
A heartbroken Lee Lovell spoke to reporters after a judge found the second teenager involved in his wife’s murder robbery not guilty. Image: NewsWire
CCTV footage not enough to bring charges: judge
At the start of the trial, the teenager had pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, business robbery, assault resulting in actual bodily harm and malicious act with intent.
The Crown did not allege that he had caused the fatal injury to Ms Lovell, but rather that he was a party to the offense and had formed a “common intention” with his co-accused to pursue an unlawful purpose – namely, “to steal property within the dwelling.” …while armed with a knife.”
Prosecutors argued that murder was a likely consequence of this.
They relied on CCTV which captured the teenager moments before entering the Lovell home and turning his head towards his co-accused, who was then armed with the 115cm knife he later used to murder Ms Lovell.
The Crown alleged that this was the time the second teenager would have seen the knife.
But the teen’s defense lawyer, Laura Reece, said this could not be proven based on the vision.
CCTV captured the Lovells fighting with the teenage intruders when they entered their open house north of Brisbane in the early hours of December 26, 2022.
In his judgment, Judge Copley said the infrared camera at the Lovells’ North Lakes home captured the main offender opening the door slightly and then closing it before giving the other teenager a thumbs-up sign.
The main offender then disappeared from main view, returned behind the teenager and pulled the knife from his bag.
“While the defendant was still within range of the camera, but inside the house, I saw him turn to the left,” Judge Copley said.
‘His right hand pulled out a mobile phone from his right side and that hand moved upwards, closer to where his face appeared to be.
“When this happened… (the main offender) still had the knife in the air in his hand.”
Judge Copley said he could not see the teenager look at the knife his co-accused was holding.
“From what I could determine, from what I perceived was the defendant’s left ear, the defendant’s face remained looking toward his phone before returning to the way he had been looking to move further into the house,” he said.
The tragic death of mother-of-two Emma Lovell in her own home shocked the North Lakes community. The photo shows tributes at the site.
“From the evidence, a reasonable possibility remains open that the defendant did not see or know about the knife.”
Judge Copley went on to say there was nothing to suggest the teenager activated a flashlight on his phone.
He said he could not be sure any light was sufficient to allow the teenager to see the knife and therefore he would not have known his co-accused was armed.
Judge Copley returned verdicts of not guilty for murder and the alternative charges of manslaughter and not guilty for the malicious act with intent charge.
The teenager will be sentenced in December.
Outside court, Lovell said he did not feel he had received “one shred” of justice for his murdered wife, and said he and his family had been sentenced to life in prison because of Lovell’s murder.
The criminal record of a teenager before the murder of his mother
Before murdering Lovell, the teenager who inflicted the fatal wound had racked up a staggering 84 convictions since he was 15.
His arrest for Ms Lovell’s murder was his first spell in custody.
The teenager, who turned 19 while in custody awaiting sentencing for Ms Lovell’s murder, had convictions relating to break-ins or attempted break-ins of homes or cars.
Sixteen of them involved illegal entry or attempted entry into premises, two of which involved houses with the families still inside.
In his comments published in May, Judge Tom Sullivan said the boy was confronted by an owner and fled on one occasion.
Eleven crimes were for illegal entry or use of vehicles.
The teenager who inflicted the fatal wound on Lovell (left) was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to his murder.
The teenager was never taken into custody, but was instead given probation orders lasting between three and nine months.
Judge Sullivan said those probation periods involved weekly meetings with a Youth Justice social worker, lasting between 45 minutes and an hour.
The teenager had been participating in module-based learning programs to change his behaviour, with a view to reducing “future offending”.
He was under one of these parole orders at the time he murdered Ms Lovell.
During his sentencing, Judge Copley found the attack on the Lovells to be a “particularly heinous” crime, allowing him to jail the teenager for more than the maximum 10-year prison sentence that can be imposed under the Youth Justice Act. Queensland.
Prosecutors had previously pushed for this to be done in the circumstances where the teenager was on probation and had arrived at the Lovell home armed with the knife.
Once the sentence is completed, the teenager must serve nine years and 292 days of preventive detention, or 70 percent of the sentence.