Family too upset to watch as Vyleen White’s killer appeals against sentence

A teenager who killed a grandmother and triggered landmark youth justice laws has appealed against his sentence, devastating the victim’s family.

An advocate on Tuesday said the appeal was an insult to Vyleen White’s traumatised family, and there would be community outrage if the original sentence was not upheld.

The boy was 16 when he fatally stabbed White during a carjacking outside a shopping centre west of Brisbane in February 2024.

The crime was the catalyst for controversial “adult crime, adult time” laws, ensuring juveniles face at least 20 years in custody for murder.

However, the laws were not retroactive, and the teenager was sentenced under the state’s previous laws, receiving a 16-year jail term.

The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced in November 2025.

He is likely to be released in late 2033 – about the time of his 26th birthday – after serving 60 per cent of his sentence, including time in remand.

But the teenager appealed against the sentence, claiming 16 years was excessive for a non-premeditated murder.

Arguments against his sentence were an insult, Victims 1st ambassador Lyndy Atkinson said outside court.

“A precedent needed to be set, and this was the right precedent to be set,” she said.

Atkinson said the White family were devastated by the appeal.

“They are too traumatised to attend. I think it’s an insult to the family, and there will be community outrage if the original sentence is not upheld,” she said.

Defence barrister Matthew Hynes told the Court of Appeal justices on Tuesday that the sentencing judge had made an error.

“This is a case where there is a single stab with fleeting intention,” Hynes said.

The teen was serving the highest sentence handed down in Queensland for a 16-year-old who killed someone via a single stab wound, the justices heard.

Justice David Boddice said a brief moment of intent to kill or cause life-threatening injury that turns fatal was enough for murder.

“That’s the offence, that’s how you get to murder: one moment,” Boddice said.

The teen quickly approached the 70-year-old grandmother and demanded her car keys before inflicting a “non-survivable” 17-centimetre-deep knife wound, Chief Justice Helen Bowskill said at sentencing.

He did not hesitate before stabbing White as she held up her hands and backed away.

The boy stole her 2009 Hyundai Getz hatchback and drove it to a nearby residential area, where he showed it off to other teens.

CCTV footage captured the teen deliberately stabbing White as she tried to get away, Director of Public Prosecutions Todd Fuller told the justices on Tuesday.

“The sentence falls well short of being described as manifestly excessive,” he said.

Bowskill’s sentence was made in the context of community demands for greater protection from violent young criminals and increased knife crime in public.

“It was accepted that this murder was particularly heinous,” Fuller said.

The three justices reserved their decision.

AAP

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.