The 10-year sentence handed to a teenager who killed a Queensland couple and their unborn baby in a hit-and-run will remain the same after two failed legal challenges.
Last year the teen pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Katherine Leadbetter — who was 24 weeks' pregnant — and her partner Matthew Field and was ordered to serve 60 per cent of a 10-year jail term.
The couple died in January 2021 after they were struck by the then 17-year-old who was driving a stolen four-wheel drive while under the influence of drugs and alcohol in Alexandra Hills, east of Brisbane.
This March, lawyers for both the state's attorney-general and the now 19-year-old challenged his original sentence in the Court of Appeal.
During a hearing held in Brisbane, the director of public prosecutions argued the penalty was "unjust and unreasonable" and "manifestly inadequate".
They submitted the sentence failed to reflect the "serious nature of the offending" and the safety of the community, submitting it should be increased to 14 years.
Under Queensland's youth justice laws, children can only be handed a maximum sentence of 10 years in custody, unless the offence is determined to be "particularly heinous", in which case a life sentence can be considered.
A previous Court of Appeal president's definition of this term was read to the court, and it was characterised as crimes which were "revolting and offensive beyond the norm".
Lawyers representing the teenager opposed the increase and launched their own appeal calling for the sentence be reduced to nine years.
They accepted the consequences of the offending were "particularly tragic", but argued this did not make it "particularly heinous" and community protection should not be given "so much weight".
The court heard the teen had a prejudicial background through "no fault of his own" and suffered "severe neglect" from early childhood.
It also heard the offender had a lengthy criminal history, including more than 20 instances of unlawful use of a motor vehicle in the two years before he killed the couple.
'No error in sentencing decision'
On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal dismissed both applications, meaning the sentence will not change.
In a published decision, three judges including the President Justice Debra Mullins, said the original sentencing judge had been "careful and comprehensive" in his remarks and was "fully cognisant" of the seriousness of the teens offending.
"The attorney-[general] has failed to show that this is an exceptional case … or that the sentence imposed on the respondent was 'unreasonable and plainly unjust'," the judgement said.
The judges also agreed the teen's lawyers failed to show his "subjective circumstances" while offending had "precluded the finding that the offences were particularly heinous".
"There was no error in the sentencing judge's conclusion that the offences of manslaughter were particularly heinous," they wrote.
Family 'disappointed' in result
Outside court, Matthew Field's father Russell Field said the outcome was a "little bit disappointing".
"We weren't expecting bells and whistles, but we thought maybe common sense would have prevailed," he said.
Mr Field acknowledged the judges were "restrained" by existing laws and said they would have to accept the decision and "move forward", but stressed they did not agree with the reasoning.
"As far as I understand not one juvenile has ever been sentenced to the maximum [life] sentence," he said.
"What's got to happen for anybody to be serving the maximum sentence? How many more people have got to die?"
Both Mr Field and his wife Ann said youth justice legislation needed to be amended further, including introducing mandatory minimum sentences.
"If the premier thinks these [current] laws are adequate, I think the people need to stand up and do something about it," Mrs Field said.
"There needs to be some sort of guidelines put in place, so the kids know … what they're up for," Mr Field said.
"If they know from the start that they're going to go to jail they might stop and think."
The teenager is due to be released from custody in January 2027.
