Emma Lovell’s teen killer jailed for 14 years after ‘particularly heinous’ crime
The husband of Brisbane mother Emma Lovell who died in a brutal Boxing Day home invasion in a “particularly heinous” crime says he doesn’t “feel justice is served” after her killer was sentenced.
Police & Courts
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The teen who stabbed Brisbane mother-of-two Emma Lovell in the heart as she fought to push him from her home has been jailed for 14 years.
Now aged 19, the serial home invader was 17 when he murdered Emma and cannot be named due to his age at the time of the crime.
Justice Tom Sullivan sentenced the teen to 14 years for his crimes with a non-parole period of 9 years and 292 days taking into account the time he had already spent.
He pleaded guilty to murdering the 41-year-old and stabbing her husband Lee in the back during a middle-of-the-night home invasion at North Lakes on Boxing Day in 2022.
Justice Sullivan found the teen’s crime was both violent and “particularly heinous”, meaning he could sentence him to longer than the maximum 10 years for a juvenile being sentenced for the offence of murder.
Justice Sullivan said the teen had spared Emma’s family from giving evidence in court by pleading guilty to four offences – burglary while armed and in company, murder, malicious act with intent and assault occasioning bodily harm while in company.
He said the guilty pleas were made in the face of an “overwhelmingly strong crown case”.
Justice Sullivan said on Boxing Day, 2022, the teen had spent most of the day in the North Lakes area with two other youths.
They were joined by a fourth teen that evening.
He said at 11.25pm, they tried a car door at a house close to the Lovells’ property.
Another of the group tried the door of another house before the teen tried the Lovell home.
“You turned and gave the thumbs up, indicating it was unlocked,” Justice Sullivan said.
He said the teen carried a knife as he entered the house, with a blade 11.5cm in length.
Justice Sullivan said Emma and Lee Lovell woke to their dogs barking and an app on Emma’s phone connected to security cameras by the front door showed it was wide open.
“Mr Lovell opened the bedroom door to be confronted by you standing in front of him,” he said.
He said CCTV recorded both Lovells yelling and swearing at the two intruders to get out before they all emerged out the front engaged in a physical struggle.
Justice Sullivan said the teen was struggling with Emma, while his co-accused was fighting with Lee.
He said the CCTV showed the teen thrust the knife at the couple in a “full arm length strike” unsuccessfully more than once.
He said the teen’s co-accused ran to the road and fell, leaving him to grapple with both Emma and Lee.
The court heard the teen thrust the knife again, stabbing Emma in the heart and striking Lee in the back.
“Mrs Lovell can be seen on CCTV footage ultimately with a large blood stain on her nightgown in the abdominal area,” he said.
The teen then approached Mr Lovell and kicked him in the face as he lay on the ground.
Both teens then fled and were tracked to a nearby house by police, including the dog squad, soon after.
He said the couple’s daughters came out into the front yard and could be seen “standing over their mother’s body sobbing”.
Justice Sullivan said Emma died despite extensive efforts from emergency services responders and hospital staff.
Justice Sullivan said the person who answered the door at the house where the teens had fled initially lied, saying nobody else was inside.
When police did speak to the teen who killed Emma, he told them to call his aunt in Zillmere, saying: “I’ve got a f**king alibi from 9pm until now.”
Speaking outside court, Mr Lovell, said he was pleased the offence was categorised as “particularly heinous”, it would still be never enough.
“I suppose it was good to get 14 years. But it’s never going to be enough, it’s never going to bring her back,” Mr Lovell said.
“I’d like to think that going forward this could help other people set a new precedent maybe.
“It is still not how I want to spend my birthday to be honest.”
Mr Lovell said before the sentence his mind had started to believe the offender might have gotten a life sentence.
“I don’t feel justice is served one bit really,” he said.
Mr Lovell said the week leading up to the sentence was difficult but he tried to keep distracted.
“Everytime I was thinking about today your heart starts going and your heart starts racing a bit,” he said.
“We were lucky yesterday we got to spend the day with friends because it kept my mind off mother’s day.
“It would have been a very different day if Emma was here.”
While one offender has been sentenced, Mr Lovell said he was waiting for the second one to go through the process.
“We may be doing this in another six months, so we will see how this goes with him,” he said.
Justice Sullivan said Mr and Mrs Lovell’s DNA were present on his shoes and on his finger nails, as well as on the knife.
He said his upbringing could be described as one of deprivation and that he was exposed to violence from the age of three.
The court heard the teen had moved to his uncle’s and aunt’s place where he lived with 11 other children, with his mother not visiting much – instead getting support from his grandmother.
“When you were 14 your grandmother passed away and this represented the loss of the most positive person in your life,” he said.
The court heard he had experienced periods of parental neglect.
“After the death of your grandmother you began drinking alcohol, inhaling glue and doing drugs,” he said.
The court heard he found his brother hanging dead in his back yard.
“The pre-sentence report notes that your drug use and alcohol use increased,” he said.
“The report records that after the death of your grandmother, you established an extensive network of like-minded persons.”
The court heard he had expressed sorrow for what he had done.
“You had disclosed that one of the greatest the consequences was being the shame and guilt you felt you had subjected your family to,” he said.
“You were still emotionally processing consequences of what you have done.”
The court heard while in custody he had engaged in substance abuse education.
Justice Sullivan said he had been convicted of 84 offences in the past, with 16 being unlawful entry or attempted entry and two of them happening while the owner was home.
Justice Sullivan said Mr Lovell in his victim impact statement spoke of the loss of his wife had on them.
“Those two daughters who were only young person’s themselves directly experienced the devastating aftermath of the violence you inflicted on their parents,” he said.
“The Lovell’s were ordinary people enjoying their life in their home where there were entitled to feel safe.”
The Brisbane Supreme Court previously heard from Crown prosecutor David Nardone that the teen wielded the knife with such violence that it broke in half.
“He uses the knife, he uses it repeatedly, stabbing Mr Lovell twice and Mrs Lovell once,” Mr Nardone said.
“The evidence infers that the use of the knife is with such force that the blade snapped from the handle.”
He said the teen had a lengthy criminal history that began when he was aged 15 and included 16 home invasions.
Two of those involved occasions where people were at home when he broke in.
The teen’s co-accused is still before the courts and is yet to enter a plea.
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