Grandmother killer loses bid to have sentence reduced
Laine Clark |
A teenager who murdered a woman in front of her grandchild and sparked landmark youth justice reforms has lost his bid to have his sentence reduced.
Vyleen White, 70, was brutally stabbed in a carjacking outside a shopping centre west of Brisbane in February 2024, causing state-wide outrage.
A boy – 16 at the time – inflicted a 17cm-deep knife wound in Ms White’s chest as she held up her hands and backed away with her young granddaughter nearby.
The crime was the catalyst for controversial “adult crime, adult time” laws that ensure juveniles face at least 20 years in custody for serious offences such as murder.
However, they were not retroactive and the boy was sentenced under the state’s previous laws, receiving a 16-year jail term.
The teen – who cannot be named for legal reasons – appealed, claiming his jail term was excessive for a non-premeditated murder and that the sentencing judge had made an error.
However, the court dismissed the appeal on Friday, a move welcomed by Queensland’s Liberal National government.
“It’s a glimmer of hope and happiness for the family, but it goes nowhere near enough to justify their loss,” Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told reporters.
“They’ve been through so much. They’re obviously very pleased that it’s been upheld, but it still falls so, so short of what it should be.
“I make the point – if this had happened under ‘adult crime, adult time’ it would have been minimum mandatory life.”
Attorney-General Deb Frecklington threw her support behind Ms White’s husband Victor and his family after the appeal verdict.
“No sentence will ever bring grandmother Vyleen White back,” she said in a statement.
“My thoughts and prayers remain with Victor and the White family on what continues to be an incredibly difficult day.”
The boy received the highest sentence ever handed down in Queensland to a 16-year-old for a single stab murder, defence barrister Matthew Hynes told the Court of Appeal justices in March.
“This is a case where there is a single stab with fleeting attention,” he said.
An advocate said outside court in March that the boy’s appeal was an insult to Ms White’s traumatised family and there would be community outrage if the original sentence was not upheld.
“A precedent needed to be set and this was the right precedent to be set,” Victims 1st ambassador Lyndy Atkinson said.
The Court of Appeal on Friday upheld the teen’s 16-year sentence, saying it was “neither plainly unjust nor unreasonable”.
State MP and outspoken victims-of-crime advocate Russell Field took to social media, saying common sense had prevailed.
“Judges are starting to understand what the community expects when it comes to the sentencing of killers,” he posted.
Mr Field won the Capalaba seat southeast of Brisbane, campaigning hard on crime after his son and pregnant fiancee were killed by a teenager in a stolen car on Australia Day 2021.
The teen who fatally stabbed Ms White pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced in November 2025.
He is likely to be released from custody in late 2033, about the time of his 26th birthday, after 60 per cent of his sentence is completed with time already served.
AAP