The man who abducted four-year-old Cleo Smith from her family’s tent at a remote campsite in Western Australia has failed in his bid to reduce his sentence.
Terence Darrell Kelly has appealed against his 13-and-a-half-year prison sentence for abducting the girl from Blowholes Camp, about 70 kilometers north of Carnarvon, in the early hours of October 16, 2021, while her parents were sleeping. .
Cleo was missing for 18 days before police found her alone in a room at a property in Carnarvon on November 3.
In February, his lawyers argued before the WA Court of Appeal that the sentence was manifestly excessive.
They disputed District Court Judge Julie Wager’s conclusion that Kelly was significantly impaired by methamphetamine when he kidnapped Cleo, and also argued that the sentence did not give enough weight to his traumatic, private childhood and mental deterioration.
The three appeal court judges disagreed and dismissed the appeal in Perth on Monday.
His abduction by a 37-year-old woman sparked one of the biggest police searches in WA history and made headlines around the world.
Sentencing Kelly in the District Court in April 2023, Senior Judge Julie Wager described the fear, distress and trauma caused to Cleo and her parents as “immeasurable”.
Terence Darrell Kelly (pictured), Cleo Smith’s kidnapper, failed to have his jail sentence reduced on appeal after his lawyers tried to argue it was excessive.
Cleo Smith (pictured celebrating her seventh birthday earlier this year) was kidnapped from her family’s camp and found 18 days later.
“Eighteen days without contact or explanation, and with hours totally alone and without access to the outside world, would have been very traumatic,” the judge said.
Under his sentence, Kelly, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping Cleo, will be eligible for parole after serving 11 years and six months.