Coward puncher Kieran Loveridge has sentence doubled over Kings Cross killing of Thomas Kelly
KING-HIT victim Thomas Kelly’s brother Stuart, 16, spoke today about the need for society to shape up as his killer Kieran Loveridge had his sentence doubled on appeal.
AS Kieran Loveridge was told today he will serve almost double the sentence originally imposed for his coward punch manslaughter of Thomas Kelly, the victim’s family lamented the pointlessness of the attack that cost them their son.
Following an appeal by the DPP against the “manifestly inadequate” four year minimum term for fatally striking the 18 year old on a Kings Cross street in July 2012, the Court of Criminal Appeal has today re-sentenced him to a non parole period of seven years for the manslaughter.
Outside court, Stuart Kelly, 16, spoke passionately about respect for strangers, hoping some meaning can come from his brother’s death.
Stuart pleaded for a change in community attitudes towards violence and responsibility.
“I want Thomas’s short life to have some meaning in his death, so that we can see change - a new fresh start,” he told reporters. “I believe we should have respect for one another, for our friends, family, acquaintances, different cultures and complete strangers.”
“A culture where we accept responsibility for our actions - not one where we all too often lay the blame on our past as an excuse for what we do today.”
Loveridge was also re-sentenced on Friday for his drunken attacks on four other young men on the same night he knocked Mr Kelly down.
RACIST RANTER GAVE FAKE NAME DURING APOLOGY
He was sentenced to nine months jail for assaulting Matthew Serrao, 11 months for assaulting Rhyse Saliba, 13 months for assaulting Aden Gazi and at least 16 months for the assault occasioning actual bodily harm of Marco Compagnoni.
The three-judge bench has also fixed harsher terms for a string of assaults carried out by Loveridge on the same night, saying the original sentence had “failed to take into account the need for general deterrence for this kind of offending.”
With time already served, Loveridge could languish behind bars until May 17, 2026.
A tearful Kathy Kelly said she felt the pain of losing her son every day.
“I think the thing that’s hardest for me to try to comprehend is that he lost his life for nothing,” she said.
“It wasn’t a grudge, it wasn’t domestic violence, although all those things are just terrible it’s just he died for no reason.
“That’s the thing we will never be able to comprehend.” Justice Bathurst, on behalf of the full bench, spoke to the Kelly family’s “overwhelming grief” at the sudden loss of Mr Kelly as he handed down the new jail terms.
“He was doing nothing more than socialising with his friends in a public street when this terrible event occurred,” Justice Bathurst said.
Mr Kelly’s father Ralph said appealing the sentence had been stressful for the family.
“It shouldn’t be that the victims have to go through this ... the offender should be given a sentence which is decent and let them appeal,” he said on Friday.
“Why should we have to go through this terrible stress over almost two years?”
He said he was touched by the acknowledgement of the family’s pain.
“But it’s never enough. You can’t bring him back,” Ralph Kelly said.
Public anger over Mr Kelly’s death and lobbying from the Kelly family led the NSW government to introduce a raft of new laws designed to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence.
Among the changes was the introduction of an eight-year minimum mandatory sentence for fatal one-punch assaults if alcohol or drugs are involved.
Nurses to be charged for comments about killing Israeli patients
Detectives have asked an Israeli influencer for an unedited version of a viral video in which two Sydney nurses boast about wanting to kill Israeli patients at Bankstown Hospital, so detectives can determine what charges will be laid against the pair.
Sydney nurses stood down after vile video identified
The two NSW Health nurses stood down over a vile anti-Semitic video have been identified.