A teenager jailed for murdering a Queensland mother after breaking into her home north of Brisbane on Boxing Day had never spent a day in custody despite racking up a staggering 84 convictions since he was 15.
North Lakes woman Emma Lovell was stabbed to death outside her home after the teenager, then 17, walked in through the open door before trying to escape a fight with the mother of two and her husband Lee on Boxing Day night 2022. .
In the ensuing fight, Ms Lovell suffered a fatal stab wound to the heart, while Mr Lovell was also stabbed in the back and kicked in the face.
That teen, who has since served 19 years in custody, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday for Lovell’s murder.
It can be revealed that this is his first spell in custody despite racking up convictions over a two-and-a-half year period in the run-up to the North Lakes massacre.
Emma Lovell was stabbed to death outside her home on Boxing Day 2022 by a teenager armed with a knife
In sentencing comments released by the Queensland Supreme Court earlier in the week, Justice Tom Sullivan said the teenager had been convicted of 84 offenses involving break-ins or attempted break-ins of homes or cars.
The first was committed in May 2020, when the teenager was only 15 years old.
Sixteen of them involved illegal entry or attempted entry into premises, two of which involved houses with families still inside.
“On one occasion he was confronted by a homeowner and fled,” Judge Sullivan said.
‘On another occasion, a dog confronted you inside the house.
“Usually the purpose of his trespassing was to obtain car keys to enable him to use cars that would later be stolen.”
Eleven crimes on the teenager’s record were for illegal entry or use of vehicles.
Despite the staggering number of entries, he was never taken into custody but was instead sentenced to 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 Lovells confronted the teen and his alleged accomplice at their home; The fight spread to the front garden where Ms Lovell was fatally stabbed.
“(You) would participate in a module-based program known as Habit Change and Goal Attainment,” Judge Sullivan said.
“This was a research-based program that sought to directly target property criminal behavior with a view to reducing their future crimes.”
The teenager was under one of those probation orders at the time he murdered Ms Lovell.
Judge Sullivan found the attack on the Lovells to be a “particularly heinous” crime, allowing him to jail the boy for more than the maximum 10-year jail sentence that can be imposed under the Queensland Youth Justice Act.
Prosecutors had previously pushed for this to be done in the circumstances where the teenager was on parole and had arrived at the Lovell home armed with a 11.5cm knife.
“It is correct to describe the crime in this case as heinous and one that would create a feeling of outrage in the wider community,” Judge Sullivan said.
During Monday’s sentencing, the court was told the teen was on a three-day bender at the time he broke into the Lovell home on the night of December 26, 2022.
CCTV captured the teenager checking the front door at 11.27pm, giving a thumbs up sign to his alleged accomplice before walking out of frame and returning armed with the knife.
The teenager who murdered Lovell, pictured with her husband Lee, had never spent a day in custody despite being convicted of 84 offenses in the previous years.
The Lovells woke up to their dogs barking and confronted the teen and his alleged accomplice inside.
“The Lovells began yelling and cursing at them both to get them to come out, and pushed them… toward the front door,” Judge Sullivan said.
During the fight, which spilled into the front garden, the teenager inflicted the fatal stab wound on Ms Lovell.
Police located him at a residence hiding under a blanket in a bedroom.
Judge Sullivan said the teenager lied that he had slept since 9pm that night and told police: “My aunt lives in Zillmere.” Go call her, I have a damn alibi from 9 o’clock until now.
While detained outside the residence, the teen laughed.
In sentencing him to 14 years in prison, Judge Sullivan took into account his background, including the teen’s exposure to violence and substance abuse.
The court was told that the teenager lost his grandmother, considered the “most positive and important person” in his life at the time, at the same time he lost a stepbrother to suicide.
After this, he began abusing drugs and alcohol and sniffing glue.
He had also expressed “pain for the legacy of this crime”; However, the court was told the teen still attributed his offending to substance abuse and physical fighting.
“This demonstrates, at least to some extent, that you lack the will to face the consequences of your own actions,” Judge Sullivan said.
Once the sentence is served, the teenager must serve nine years and 292 days of preventive detention, or 70 percent of the sentence.
His co-accused, who has not yet pleaded guilty, still has his matter before the courts.
After the sentencing, Lovell said he didn’t feel justice had been done “one bit.”
“I guess it was a good thing they gave him 14 years,” he told reporters.
“But it will never be enough, it will never bring (Emma) back.”
