Kieran Loveridge, who was jailed last November for the 2012 killing of teenager Thomas Kelly, has had an additional three years added to his four year sentence for manslaughter, The Australian have reported.
Loveridge was originally jailed for at least four years, with a maximum of six, but following community outrage at the leniency of the sentence, the Department of Public Prosecutions launched an appeal, which today was upheld.
Chief Justice Tom Bathurst declared that Loveridge was to serve a non-parole period of seven years for Kelly’s death, meaning that he will be in prison for at least three more years.
In addition to manslaughter, Loveridge is also serving time for four other assaults on the night of Kelly’s death. The sentences for those assaults were also extended, meaning that he could now be in prison until 2026.
After the hearing, Kelly’s 16-year-old brother Stuart made a statement about community attitudes to violence, saying “I want Thomas’s short life to have some meaning in his death, so that we can see change – a new fresh start.”
