Distressing details revealed during a court hearing for Emma Lovell's teenage killer

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Distressing vision and audio of the moment south-east Queensland woman Emma Lovell was stabbed to death by a teenage boy outside her home has been shown to a court for the first time.

Transcript

00:00 Emma Lovell died defending her home, leaving behind two daughters and a devastated husband

00:07 who described his wife as his best friend.

00:11 Just a beautiful mum I suppose, devoted to us and our family and trying to strive for

00:18 something better which is the whole reason we moved to Australia in the first place.

00:20 We're just trying to get through each day and each week.

00:22 A sentencing hearing in Brisbane heard Mr and Mrs Lovell were woken in the middle of

00:27 the night on Boxing Day 2022. Their North Lakes home had just been broken into by two

00:32 seventeen year old boys, one armed with a knife. During a confrontation on their front

00:38 lawn the couple were both stabbed but Mrs Lovell's wound to her heart was fatal.

00:44 Vision of the stabbing was shown to the court and was seen for the first time by Mr Lovell

00:48 and his two daughters. But the family chose to leave the gallery when audio captured on

00:53 a neighbour's camera was played. Mr Lovell said it was just too painful to listen to.

00:59 It was revealed the teenager responsible was on probation and had previously committed

01:04 multiple break and enters but this was the first time he'd used violence. After pleading

01:09 guilty to Mrs Lovell's murder earlier this year, it's now up to a judge to decide what

01:14 punishment he should receive. Prosecutors told the court his offending should be considered

01:19 particularly heinous, which means he can be given a sentence of up to and including life

01:24 in prison. He uses the knife and he uses it repeatedly. There was premeditation. The teen's

01:31 lawyer says the weapon was used only in resistance and his client's chaotic upbringing should

01:37 allow for a lesser jail term. The teenager will be sentenced next week.

01:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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