Husband of Emma Lovell says teen should get same punishment as her murderer

The grieving husband of a mother-of-two who was fatally stabbed in the chest after a violent home invasion says a co-accused second teenager should face the same punishment as her murderer.

A trial for an 18-year-old charged over the death of North Lakes mother Emma Lovell, 41, concluded on Tuesday, with Justice Michael Copley set to decide the verdict in the coming weeks.

The trial was altered to exclude a jury, after a judge ruled members of the community would be influenced by the debate over youth crime, with proceedings held the same week as the Queensland election.

Emma Lovell was killed and her husband was injured during the confrontation at their North Lakes home.

The teenager, who was 17 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, earlier this week pleaded not guilty to four charges against him, of murder, burglary, unlawfully wounding, and unlawful assault.

Lee Lovell told the trial he bolted to his bedroom door on the night of Boxing Day, 2022, and found the intruders in his house, before he and his wife struggled with them to get them out.

Outside court on Wednesday, Lovell said he hoped the second teenager would be given 14 years’ jail, the same sentence as the first teen.

“The first time ’round you didn’t really get the outcome which we thought we were going to get,” he said.

Lee Lovell outside the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Wednesday.Credit: Cloe Read

“It’s hard to not turn into this bitter grieving husband, but just retain this anger all the time. You’ve got to move on with your life.”

He said the trial had been stressful, and he and his daughters had been through a difficult time.

“Just working full-time, and being a parent and trying to manage everything else, I feel ... there’s not a great deal of time to grieve Emma,” he said.

“Last year [over the Christmas period] I went away because I didn’t want to face it, but this year my brother and wife are coming over.”

Lovell said many had asked how he contained his anger while sitting in the same room as the accused killer’s family.

“I’m not an angry person, so I’m not going to sit there and want to attack people. That’s not in my nature. I just have to accept who they are.”

Lovell said he hoped Copley would be fair in his decision.

On Wednesday, at the end of the three-day trial, the judge said he would deliver verdicts “as soon as possible”, before early November.

The prosecution said the pair had broken into the Lovell home with a common intention to steal.

The court was shown video of the primary offender appearing to place a knife directly in front of the second teen’s face, which prosecutors said meant the accused was aware of the weapon before entering the house.

The defence team submitted the teenager on trial was not guilty of murder because he did not know the other teenager had a knife.

They argued he only partially turned at the time, and that a camera capturing the incident was operating in infrared, meaning the scene was much darker to human eyes.

With AAP

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.