Australian teenager found not guilty of murdering British woman who broke in

A second teenager charged with fatal stabbing English woman during home attack Australia He was cleared of murder.

Allegedly two young girls entered Northern Lakes, Queensland, house He stabbed 41-year-old Emma Lovell to death during the Boxing holiday in 2022. He allegedly attacked Lovell and her husband when the two confronted each other.

According to ABC Australia, at the hearing attended only by judges, it was accepted that the second defendant, who was 17 years old at the time, had not personally committed any violent act.

Judge Michael Copley handed down the not guilty verdict on Thursday after reviewing the evidence following a three-day trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court earlier this month.

The teenager, whose identity is protected by law, pleaded not guilty to charges of armed trespass, malicious acts and assault that harmed her husband. Her husband was reportedly kicked and stabbed in the back. Nine News.

Although he was found not guilty of murder and Lovell’s lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, the teenager was found guilty of burglary and assault. He was also found not guilty of malicious acts committed with intent to harm the victim’s husband.

The judge needed to consider whether the teenager shared a common intention to cause harm. It ruled that the evidence did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew the other teenager had a knife when they entered the house.

The defendant was remanded in custody pending a pre-sentence report in early December.

Mr Lovell said he was disappointed with the decision. “You can’t object to a judge-only hearing, so I have to get this done,” he told reporters outside court. Guard. “Now we’re the ones sentenced to life imprisonment, and everyone else continues what they’re doing.”

the other Young man confessed to murder He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in March this year.

murder of British woman Judge Tom Sullivan said at the time of sentencing that it was a “particularly heinous” crime.

“They were ordinary citizens enjoying family life in their homes, where they had the right to feel safe,” he added. “What happened completely violated that.”

Lovell and her husband migrated to Brisbane from Suffolk with their daughter in 2011.

The stabbing took place in front of their home and was recorded on the family’s security camera. The video was played in the courtroom, with a gallery including Lovell’s two daughters, her husband and others.

The court was told the couple were awakened by their dog barking at their home in the North Lakes suburb, about 45 kilometers north of Brisbane. They went out to the garden where Lovell was stabbed in the heart with a 11.5cm knife.

When police arrived at the scene, they found their teenage daughter crying and calling for help before paramedics performed open-heart surgery on the front lawn of her home.

Lovell died shortly after being taken to the hospital.