The now 19-year-old man, whose identity remains protected because he was 17 at the time, was originally sentenced last year to 14 years in prison with a requirement to serve 70 percent of that term before becoming eligible for supervised release, according to the BBC. The Queensland Court of Appeal on Friday reduced that requirement to 60 percent.
The ruling means he could apply for release after serving eight years and five months, 17 months earlier than the original timeline.
Lovell, 41, was killed on Boxing Day 2022 after confronting two teenage intruders at her home in North Lakes, about 45km (30 miles) north of Brisbane. She and her husband forced the teens into the front garden, where a struggle broke out.
Lovell was stabbed in the heart. Paramedics attempted open-heart surgery at the scene while her two daughters looked on, but she died shortly after arriving at hospital.
The court found that the 14-year sentence itself was not “manifestly excessive” and described the killing as a “particularly heinous offence” that generated “a sense of outrage.”, The judges, though, said the lower parole threshold was justified because of the man’s early guilty plea, which spared the family a trial, along with his expressions of remorse and prospects for rehabilitation.
They also said his background, including exposure to violence, parental neglect, and substance abuse from a young age, should have been weighed heavier when determining punishment.
The second teen involved in the break-in was acquitted of murder but received an 18-month detention sentence in December for burglary and assault.
