Teen crash victim’s mum speaks amid Attorney-General’s record appeals
Since taking the legal helm of a state rocked by senseless crimes, Qld’s Attorney-General has challenged a record number of sentences. We speak to the families of victims and get rare insight into the process.
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Everyday Susan Marcus wishes she could hear her daughter Kelsie’s voice again, speak to her about her dreams and the lives she could have changed had her own not been cut short at 17.
Instead, when the Maryborough mother answers the phone, the voice she hears is often that of the Queensland’s Attorney-General calling personally about the appeal against the teen driver responsible for the now notorious triple fatal which killed Kelsie, 17, Michale Chandler, 29 and Sheree Robertson, 52.
Ms Marcus is among the many loved ones across five families anxiously awaiting results after AG Deb Frecklington launched a record six appeals since the LNP took office in November 2024. From a monster couple who raped a 15-year-old, to a child gangster who stabbed an army veteran, to a teen who forced his way into a locked home and molested a sleeping 10-year-old, Ms Frecklington is following through on her campaign pledge to challenge penalties she believes do not meet community expectations.
The lawyer turned Nanango MP and Minister for Justice told this publication this week her office received daily calls from victims and families crying out to be heard about cases, “many of which are exceptionally sad and distressing”.
“I take my power to appeal sentences very seriously,” Ms Frecklington said.
“We carefully consider sentences handed down across the state to ensure they are adequate and reflect community expectations.”
Kelsie, her youth pastor Michale and Maryborough nurse Sheree were killed when a 13-year-old driver crashed a stolen luxury car.
Before his sentence, this publication exclusively revealed that at the time the teen caused the triple fatal, he was already on bail for driving a different stolen car at frightening speeds just weeks before.
He was sentenced over the three women’s deaths in December last year, receiving six years’ detention but will be out on parole by Christmas, 2026.
The freshly minted AG announced straight away that she was considering appealing and by January she had confirmed she had directed the DPP to follow through on the grounds the sentence was “manifestly inadequate”.
While Ms Marcus wasn’t confident the penalty in her daughter’s case would be increased, she respected that Ms Frecklington was trying to bring home the impact on families.
“The Attorney-General has been in constant contact with me personally by phone about the appeal, and has been wonderful, caring and considerate,” she said.
“It does make it harder for us the more it drags on, but the longer eyes are on this problem of reoffending youths the more likely something will change with the sentencing.
“I don’t really have any confidence in the justice system, but I know that this government is at least trying to fix it and for that I am grateful.”
In the meantime, the pain of loss never leaves.
She honours her daughter through banners at the crash site “showing her beautiful face” and there’s a flag “I fly at home on the death date and her birthday”.
“Kelsie was a truly beautiful soul who was trying her best to help make this world a better place, especially for the youth of today,” she said.
“Every day I think of Kelsie and what she could have achieved.
“Her passion was with the Youth Church and how she could positively help and influence the young people … The ones she was trying to save ended up ending her life.”
‘WILLING TO FIGHT FOR THE COMMUNITY’
For Jade*, the Bundaberg mother of an 18-year-old girl who had a rope wrapped around her neck as her attacker tried to drag her into a car, the nightmare has left a trail of “post traumatic scars for both my daughter and our family”.
Ms Frecklington also tried this year to appeal the penalty the attacker received but was unsuccessful.
“This man was a risk to our community and should receive a longer sentence,” Jade said.
“We felt like the AG … was willing to fight for the community’s ongoing safety and show other people that they are getting tougher on crimes and hopefully be a deterrent for any future crimes.”
She said initially knowing an appeal had been lodged “felt like a little glimmer of hope” and that it might “make him feel like the case was not over yet”.
Now, she believes more change is needed.
“We need greater crime prevention strategies, we need tougher sentencing laws, we need stronger judges making decisions, and we need more prisons to hold perpetrators accountable and support rehabilitation for when they are released,” she said.
Her message for others was “don’t give up”.
“It’s important to advocate, to report crimes, and for perpetrators to be held accountable,” she said.
Jade believed there also needed to be greater victim support, criticising the current offering as “not good enough” after her daughter was only offered a phone counselling session three months after the attack.
“I chose to pay for face-to-face counselling sessions within a week of the crime happening … I knew that time was essential in helping her deal with the trauma and process the crime,” she said.
“The court process was so overwhelming for her, that if she did not have her family supporting and advocating for her, she may not have continued with the process.”
A State Government spokeswoman said the Attorney-General monitored all court outcomes closely and at times sought advice from prosecuting authorities.
“The Attorney-General can then form a view on whether to lodge an appeal,” the spokeswoman said.
While she couldn’t comment directly on the cases which were currently subject to appeals, Ms Frecklington said the Crisafulli Government would keep strengthening laws and provide courts “with the tools needed to impose tough sentences”.
“This is what Queenslanders were crying out for … We must continue to support victims of crime and ensure justice is properly served,” she said.
THE SIX APPEALS AG HAS LAUNCHED SINCE STATE ELECTION
TRIPLE FATAL TEEN
A 13-year-old was driving dangerously on the Bruce Highway at Maryborough when he crashed the stolen Mercedes, colliding with multiple vehicles and claiming the lives of Kelsie Davies, 17, Michale Chandler, 29 and Sheree Robertson, 52 on April 30, 2023.
Sole survivor of the crash Kaylah Behrens suffered a brain injury which caused a lifelong cognitive defect.
In December 2024 the driver, by then 14, was sentenced to six years’ detention during a Childrens Court of Queensland sitting in Maroochydore.
Under the sentence he must serve 60 per cent of the time behind bars but could be released in late 2026 when he is 16 without spending any time in an adult jail.
At the time of the offence, he had been known to police as a serial car thief and was on bail at the time he caused the triple fatal crash.
The appeal is underway.
SHOPPING CENTRE STABBER
Chris Sanders was stabbed in the chest just centimetres from his heart by a 17-year-old gangster while at Alexandra Hills shopping centre on December 12, 2023.
The teen later pleaded guilty to assault, assault causing bodily harm and wounding and was handed probation on a three-month conditional release order with no convictions recorded.
He had already served 189 days on remand in juvenile detention.
The knife attack was triggered after the boy hit Mr Saunders’ car with his hand, and Mr Saunders retaliated by knocking the boy over during a confrontation.
The boy then chased him down and stabbed him after falling.
Mr Sanders, speaking after the attack, said he had been walking through the shopping centre and heard “knife, knife, knife”.
“I tried to get back up and I couldn’t, I just had blood everywhere,” he said.
The appeal is underway.
‘ROPE AROUND NECK’ ABDUCTOR
Brock Andrew McDonald attacked an 18-year-old woman he didn’t know, wrapping a rope around her neck and trying to drag her to his car as she was walking home from a night out in Bundaberg.
The 44-year-old pleaded guilty in December 2024 to deprivation of liberty and assault occasioning bodily harm over the attack which happened on October 21, 2023.
He forced the teen face down into the back of his car and told her not to look at him, but she was able to escape and call for help when he knelt over and removed the rope.
The teen was left with rope burns around her neck and abrasions on her right knee and thigh.
He was jailed for 2.5 years with immediate parole after already serving 413 days in pre-sentence custody.
Ms Frecklington pushed to extend the sentence, but the Supreme Court found she could not demonstrate McDonald’s sentence was inadequate.
The appeal failed.
MONSTER MOLESTER
A high risk Mackay teen avoided further detention and a conviction after forcing his way into a locked home and molesting a sleeping 10-year-old girl.
When the girl woke up, the 17-year-old pinned her to her bed and told her, “I’m your friend”.
The Children's Court of Queensland heard the offending was committed while he had been on probation for an attempted rape at Townsville, for which he had also been given the benefit of no conviction.
The now 18-year-old pleaded guilty to charges including burglary and indecent treatment of a child in mid 2024 and was given two years detention with a six-month conditional release order and two year probation with no convictions recorded.
The court heard despite completing a two-year treatment program with Griffith Youth Forensic Service, two psychologists found the teen, who has ongoing mental health issues, was an “increased risk of sexual offence with recidivism” and a high risk of further offending.
The appeal is underway.
TEEN’S PARTY RAPISTS
Gold Coast husband and wife Christopher Luke Hili and Lee Kathleen Hili raped a 15-year-old girl after a party.
The couple had fought the allegations but after a five-day trial a jury found them guilty of two counts of rape, one count of exposing a child to an indecent act and one of exposing a child to an indecent film.
Christopher Hili was sentenced to seven years’ prison and will be eligible for parole from March 31, 2026. Lee Hili was sentenced to six years and will be eligible for parole from September 30, 2025. They had already spent 12 months in custody on remand.
In lodging the appeal Ms Frecklington said, “This was sickening offending against a young and vulnerable victim, and I do not believe the sentences meet community expectations.”
The appeal is underway.
NOOSA NIGHTCLUB JAWBREAKER
Jack Ronald Murray broke another man’s jaw, knocking out his tooth in an attack on the dancefloor of a Noosa nightclub.
The 20-year-old lashed out after a heated exchange about 1.30am on July 9, 2023.
The victim needed to metal plates to be inserted into the fracture.
Murray, a Tewantin man, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and was given immediate parole on a two-year jail term and ordered to pay compensation to the victim.
The appeal is underway.
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