‘It was a major shock’: Husband tells of ‘terrifying’ Boxing Day intrusion

The husband of a Queensland mother who died after an alleged intrusion into their North Lakes home on Boxing Day has told of the “terrifying” event.

Emma Lovell, 41, and her husband Lee, 43, were stabbed at their house in north Brisbane after confronting two people about 11.30pm on Monday.

Emma Lovell (centre) died in hospital after the stabbing at her house in North Lakes, where an accused (left) was led into a police vehicle by officers the morning after.Credit: Brisbane Times, Nine News, Facebook

Emma was treated by paramedics at the home but later died in hospital. Police said the Lovells were defending their home, with two teenage daughters inside.

Lee told A Current Affair on Wednesday that on the night of Emma’s death, the couple heard dogs barking and received an alert from their security system telling them the front door was open.

“It was a major shock. It was terrifying,” he said.

Lee, who was allegedly stabbed in the back and arm and was stomped on, told the show he didn’t realise his wife was not going to survive.

“I thought she was [going to survive] because I suppose the work the paramedics were doing at the time,” he said.

“I know she didn’t have a pulse, but then they said they got her pulse back.

“It wasn’t until, I don’t know, a couple of hours later in the hospital I was told.

“It was a major shock, to be honest.”

Lee then had the heartbreaking job of telling the couple’s two teenage daughters that their mother had not survived.

He said the family, who moved to Australia from the UK 11 years ago, had lived in the home since 2018 and was shocked to learn there was a half-way house in the street.

“I just thought it was families who lived in this area,” he said.

Emma’s death reignited calls for a crackdown on youth crime across Queensland.

Neighbours reported hearing screams, and police said there was a scuffle on the front porch that ended on the front lawn before the intruders fled.

Two 17-year-old males, from Zillmere and Holland Park, were charged with murder, attempted murder and entering a dwelling with intent in company.

Emma and Lee Lovell.

The pair will remain behind bars until January.

They did not appear in the Brisbane Children’s Court on Wednesday, but their lawyers sought to have media removed from the court on the grounds it would be prejudicial to their case.

A lawyer representing one of the teenagers also asked for the matter to be moved to Pine Rivers Court, but Magistrate Peter Cooke ruled the case was too serious to be moved to a smaller court.

In a rare event, Cooke allowed the press to report on the cases on Wednesday, despite opposition from the defendants’ lawyers.

Officers lead a suspect into a police van after North Lakes mother Emma Lovell died of her injuries on Boxing Day.Credit: Nine News

“There is overwhelming public interest in these matters,” he said.

“What is going to be mentioned today is very arbitrary and purely to do with processes.

“I don’t see that anything put before the court today would be detrimental to the young people involved, the defendants.

“The level of prejudice to them is, well, in my opinion, nonexistent. There is no prejudice to them in having members of the media present today.”

The case was adjourned until January 16.

Later on Wednesday, QPS Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon said two other teenagers who were in police custody – a 17-year-old boy from Narangba and a 16-year-old from Zillmere – were charged with stealing in a separate incident earlier on Boxing Day.

They were released on bail, with their matters expected to be heard before the Children’s Court at a later date.

Scanlon said youth crime was a complex and multifaceted issue for the community and police.

“These are not young children,” she said of the two charged with murder. “These are youths who are in the upper age range for those who are classed as youth by law.

“Youth crime is as complex as some of the things that we’ve seen with domestic violence and other wicked problems in the community, and those things are not fixed overnight.”

Scanlon said investigators were working through lines of inquiry, including the type of knife allegedly used in the North Lakes stabbings.

“We know there is no connection between these young people and the occupants [of the Lovell house].”

She said the two teenage girls in the home at the time were unharmed but “very traumatised”.