Morgan Huxley killer Daniel Kelsall appeals sentence for murder
DANIEL Kelsall won’t get out of jail until he is at least in his 50s for the murder of Sydney man Morgan Huxley.
A BABY-FACED apprentice chef sentenced to at least 30 years for the stabbing murder of Neutral Bay businessman Morgan Huxley has appealed his sentence with his lawyer describing it as “crushing”.
Daniel Jack Kelsall, 24, won’t get out of jail until he is at least in his 50s for the murder of the much-loved 31-year-old with the sentencing judge saying it was a “chilling” and “senseless” crime by a “very disturbed individual”.
Mr Huxley, 31, was stabbed 20 times inside his Watson St unit on September 8, 2013.
Kelsall, now 24, was found guilty by a jury in March 2015 of murder and indecently assaulting Mr Huxley and sentenced to a maximum of 40 years and three months in prison with 30 years non-parole.
His lawyer Braddon Hughes SC argued in the Court of Criminal Appeal that the 30 years and three months non-parole period “tied the hands of the parole board” and did not allow them to “reward” the applicant if his mental health improved along with his prospects of rehabilitation.
He said the fact that Kelsall had supportive adoptive parents, Mark and Lynne Kelsall, who attended the hearing also improved his chances of rehabilitation saying there was “room 20 to 25 years down the track” for the prisoner to be rewarded.
The CCA heard three psychiatrists that had assessed Kelsall failed to reach a diagnosis on his mental health. However he had in the past been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression.
Mr Hughes argued that his young age and the fact he could be suffering from an “emerging” psychiatric illness for which he could be treated for changed his prospects for rehabilitation.
Crown prosecutor Sally Dowling SC opposed the application saying it was a ”truly heinous, chilling and grotesque example of murder.”
Ms Dowling said there was no evidence to suggest Kelsall’s mental health will improve and in fact one psychiatrist described him as having “psychopathic traits and an incipient personality disorder” which are both incurable.
Ms Dowling said an affidavit Kelsall provided to the hearing also expressed no remorse for his crime.
“There has never been any expression of remorse or even empathy for the deceased or his family,” she said.
On the evening of September 8, 2013 Mr Huxley was walking home from The Oaks pub to his nearby apartment just as Kelsall left work at the nearby Sydney Cooking School.
Kelsall was standing on Ben Boyd Road when he noticed a barefoot Mr Huxley with sunglasses perched on his head walking by.
CCTV footage from the pub shows Mr Huxley walking up the street followed by someone wearing chefs pants who runs up behind him.
Then both figures disappear off screen.
Kelsall gave evidence at the trial that he struck up a conversation with Mr Huxley and the pair went back to the 31-year-old’s apartment where they engaged in sexual activity.
He said while he was engaged in sexual activity with Mr Huxley an intruder came into the apartment and hit him over the head.
He said he saw the intruder fighting with Mr Huxley and ran.
Police found Mr Huxley’s blood on Kelsall’s satchel and his fingerprints on his bedroom door. They also found Kelsall’s DNA on Mr Huxley’s penis.
Mr Huxley’s sister Tiffany attended the hearing on behalf of the family.
The CCA reserved its decision
Originally published as Morgan Huxley killer Daniel Kelsall appeals sentence for murder
Jury retires in trial of cop who tasered 95yo
The jury has retired to consider their verdict in the manslaughter trial of a police officer who fatally tasered a 95-year-old woman in a nursing home.
Beloved Aussie dead after three-word request
The young man who was stabbed to death near a popular nightspot has been remembered as a “remarkable friend”.
Mundine’s court win after Covid stoush
NRL star turned champion boxer Anthony Mundine has celebrated the end of a years-long legal battle after being found guilty of flouting Covid restrictions.