Appeal against teen killer’s ‘inadequate’ sentence for couple’s manslaughter
The Palaszczuk Government will appeal the sentence of a teen who struck and killed Brisbane couple Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter with a stolen car while drunk and high on drugs.
The move came just hours after the families of the couple, who were killed along with the unborn child, again publicly condemned the 10-year jail sentence handed to the 18-year-old killer as “grossly inadequate”.
Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said she had spoken to the families to let them know of the appeal.
“I can confirm that the grounds of appeal are that the sentence for manslaughter was manifestly inadequate, particularly as the judge had determined that the offence was a heinous offence,” she said.
She said she acknowledged what the families had been through “and the community’s frustration and anger about this case”.
The then 17-year-old was drunk and high on cannabis when he ran a red light before colliding with a truck, rolling and hitting the couple at Alexandra Hills, east of Brisbane, on Australia Day in 2021.
Field and Leadbetter were killed instantly, suffering “catastrophic injuries”, while their baby Miles was delivered stillborn at Ms Leadbetter’s autopsy.
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During sentencing last week, Justice Martin Burns said the teenager had to be dealt with as a child, with the “grave nature of offending” balanced by his youth.
The couples’ parents said a sentence allowing the killer to be released on parole in five years was “grossly inadequate”.
“Unfortunately for us, this is not the end, only the next phase of our emotional journey,” they said in a statement after the sentencing.
“Our sentence. Our “life” sentence started on Australia Day last year. It will never end. Our pain will never end.
The outcry over the sentence has not abated, with Field’s parents appearing on the front page of The Courier-Mail on Thursday to again express their anger.
Fentiman defended herself against accusations the government had dragged its feet on the appeal decision, saying she needed to take advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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“Unlike the Opposition, I didn’t stand up on day one and say we would appeal this matter,” she said.
“It is so important that we follow the proper process, that I get advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions. I have listened to the community but I have also taken advice and I have determined that the matter warrants an appeal.”
She insisted she had only received the advice from the DPP on Thursday morning.
The minister also defended the government’s record on youth crime, saying it had reformed youth justice laws since the Australia Day tragedy.
“Community safety is our primary concern,” she said.
The LNP has been calling for the return of breach of bail as an offence for young people, but Ms Fentiman said it doesn’t work.
She said about 90 per cent of those found guilty went on to commit an offence within a year.
The guilty driver, who cannot be named because he was 17 at the time of the crash, was originally charged with murder, before pleading guilty to two counts of manslaughter.
In sentencing, Justice Martin Burns took into account the teen’s protracted period of extremely dangerous driving that culminated in a grossly negligent final act, regarding the manslaughter offences as “particularly heinous”.
But the teenager had to be sentenced as a child, with the “grave nature of offending” balanced by his youth.
The sentence was also based on the teenager not intending to kill or do grievous bodily harm.
