By Danuta Kozaki
Updated
Several hundred people have attended a rally in Sydney's CBD protesting against the sentence handed down to the killer of 18-year-old Thomas Kelly in Kings Cross last year.
Kieran Loveridge, 19, randomly punched Mr Kelly in the head in July last year as he walked with his girlfriend.
Mr Kelly was knocked to the ground unconscious and he died from head injuries in St Vincent's Hospital two days later.
Loveridge was jailed for at least four years for manslaughter, with a maximum of six years. He will be eligible for parole in November 2017.
Manslaughter carries a maximum 25-year term in New South Wales and there was public outcry over the sentence.
Ken Marslew, whose son Michael was killed in an armed robbery in Sydney's south nearly 20 years ago, organised today's rally.
Mr Marslew says his foundation Enough is Enough is angry at minimum sentence handed down to Loveridge.
The State Government has confirmed it will introduce so-called "one-punch" laws to cover situations where an unlawful assault causes death.
The laws will carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail, but Mr Marslew says the law is not enough.
"No not at all, I think it's a smoke screen, when in fact we already have the laws in place it's the administration of those laws," he said.
Mr Marslew says current laws are not being used properly.
"The current laws are sufficient all they need to do is be administered appropriately in the spirit with which they were created," he said.
"There'll be an appeal and I think that's fantastic my only concern is that the Kelly family don't get another kick in the guts."
Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, prisons-and-punishment, law-crime-and-justice, sydney-2000
First posted
No comments:
Post a Comment