Truly horrific. There is no other word for it.

Emma Lovell was murdered during a burglary at the family home in North Lakes (just north of Brisbane). Her husband Lee was also stabbed but is now out of hospital and home with their two daughters.

The family emigrated to Aus from Ipswich in 2011, but I gather they had visited before that.'

"Mr and Ms Lovell were defending their home from the alleged offenders, who had allegedly broken in during the night.

A 16-year-old and 17-year-old boy questioned by police after the attack have been charged with unrelated offences and released.

Police had prior contact with all four teenagers and police sources have told the ABC at least one of the alleged killers was on bail when the couple was stabbed.

Mr and Ms Lovell were defending their home from the alleged offenders, who had allegedly broken in during the night.

A 16-year-old and 17-year-old boy questioned by police after the attack have been charged with unrelated offences and released.

Police had prior contact with all four teenagers and police sources have told the ABC at least one of the alleged killers was on bail when the couple was stabbed."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-...sion/101811770



I have a niggling suspicion I may actually have met them at one of the many meets we used to do back in the day.
For those unfamiliar with Brisbane, its a suburb to the north, not a bad area like some, but just a normal, fairly new, Aussie suburb. Back in the day, when this family emigrated, it was known as Little Britain because of the number of poms living there.

My heart goes out to the two girls -one of them, if not both, witnessed the whole thing.
Emma, may you rest in peace.

It was, indeed, truly tragic and I must admit I had wondered whether she may have been one of the Poms in Australia I had encountered during her journey. My sympathies to her family who must be going through the most awful time right now.

How dreadful and tragic. My sympathies to her family. I don't know how you even begin to get past something like this.


We visited the North Lakes shopping mall many moons ago as an English friend has her optometrist business there. She lives further south in Albany Creek. All seemed pleasant areas.
I don't whether it's just me seeing a skewed view of life but the world seems a more violent place these days. Stabbings and shootings by very young people.

This is a terrible crime; my condolences to the family.

From time to time a crime gets publicity because it was committed by children, that reflects a disturbing degree of depravity, that leads to society searching its soul, looking for an explanation. I may be wrong, but it seems that depraved crimes committed by children are becoming more common, but it may just reflect globalization of news, with reports traveling quickly from country to country, that in the past would not have spread as far and as fast.

This particular case appears to have some similarities with the "swarming" case that is being reported in Canada.

Really tragic news it made the headlines here in the uk I hope one day the family will heal enough for them to move forward and enjoy their lives once again

I appreciate this is an old thread (thanks to the Mod team for reopening it) but I wanted to post an update.
===============

The person who broke into the Sunshine Coast home late at night, armed with a knife, and was then responsible for the murder of Emma Lovell, on her own front lawn, back in 2022, was originally sentenced to a (IMHO) derisory sentence of 14 years in detention and was ordered to serve 70 per cent of that in custody. He was 17 at the time of the offence, 20 when sentenced, and had a very long history of juvenile offending behind him.

This week, the sentence handed to the scroat has been reduced on appeal. He will now be released after serving only 60 per cent of his 14-year term meaning his release date will be in 2031, and he will remain on a supervision order until 2036.

Meanwhile Lee Lovell and his two daughters, who all witnessed the murder, have had their lives permanently ripped apart.

I'm trying to be impartial while typing this, but I have t say I echo the words of Lee Lovell following this week's decision - "Mr Lovell said the emphasis on the teenager's circumstances made him angry. 'Just because someone has had a bad childhood doesn't give them an excuse to go around murdering people,' he said. 'We just seem to keep focusing on the defendant all the time rather than the rights of the victim.'

And all this in a State that keeps claiming it is "getting tough on youth crime"...............


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-...uced/105657618

So he will serve about 9 years of detention and will be approx 26 years of age, when he comes out.
As you say the family has been devastated and he will be free and living his life.....

Agree, the sentence was derisory..... not uncommon in today's justice system .....

I agree. Its a total injustice - and makes a mockery of all the speeches Queensland politicians have made about youth crime.

I work in Schools and similar educational areas coordinating vaccines and the amount of times I am informed of “oh they are some real bad un’s in this group but their backgrounds “….. some of my oldest friends came from inner city Manchester (most during the slum clearance” and honestly the tales they use to tell of their childhood reads like a book of horrors and not one of them turned out a “bad un” It does seem people are blaming that in certain situations because it’s easier to do so “look at the Bulger child killers” a terrible terrible thing but blame was used on their childhood. I hope the family gain proper justice and with time they can find happiness. I use to always refer to Australia as delivering justice where due without “bleeding hearts” altering sentences etc but alas it seems Australia is going the same way as most western countries where the victim is now the 2nd thought.

Agreed.
Many of us had issues of one kind or another in childhood, and I freely admit that many kids grew up in circumstances that the rest of us find it hard to imagine. But that doesn't give the kids the right to break the law like some of them do. There's no excuse for crimes like this, like the murder of James Bulger, like many others. Thousands of children from appalling backgrounds manage to live perfectly successful lives. Some go off the rails for a time then realise what is happening and pull themselves up.
I'm all for helping the umderdog, trying to rehabilitate people, but there are limits.