How the AG's constant appeals could change sentencing trends

Sydney Morning Herald

8 hours ago

The appeal of a sentence handed to a husband and wife convicted of raping a child is the latest protest from Queensland's top law officer as the government pushes its tough on crime agenda through the justice system.
Attorney-General Deb Frecklington revealed on Friday she had asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal the sentence handed to Christopher Luke Hili and Lee Kathleen Hili, who were jailed earlier this year for raping a 15-year-old girl at the couple's house following a party.
The pair were sentenced in Brisbane's Supreme Court in April following a five-day trial. Lee was slapped with a prison sentence of six years while Christopher was handed seven years through the added offence of supplying cannabis to a child.
'This was sickening offending against a young and vulnerable victim and I do not believe the sentences meet community expectations,' Frecklington said.
'My thoughts are with the victim and her family.'
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The rebuke is at least the fifth request for a sentence to be appealed by Frecklington since the Liberal-National government was elected last year on a promise to crack down on crime.
The state government has already set higher punishment requirements for mandatory sentences of youth offenders through its 'adult crime, adult time' suite of laws.
And criminal lawyer and former Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said regular appealing of sentences is another avenue for the state government to flex its tough on crime narrative.